《Telekinetic Affairs》
Ch 1. First Date
19:57. Saturday, November 18th, 2023. Midport, New England.
Two women sat in a dimly lit restaurant. One girl wore a wrinkly white button up shirt, sloppily tucked into black pants, and a black tie in a very loose windsor knot. Her auburn hair was a tad greasy. It was 8pm but she was currently drinking an espresso. Her back was straight, her legs were crossed, with the bottom leg bouncing rapidly under the table. Her name was Alexis, some of her friends called her Lex.
Her date, Dana, wore a red dress with a slit down the side, had jet black hair, and a single piercing on her bottom lip. She held a glass of red wine in one hand, and leaned her head on her other.
Shakily, Alexis took advantage of a momentary pause in the conversation to speak.
¡°This date is going well! I can¡¯t believe you really get to make video games. That is so cool, like really cool. Even if you said you only help model the environments,¡± Alexis said. Fuck I can¡¯t believe I just said ¡®This date is going well¡¯. I am totally out of my depth here. At least bringing up what she mentioned at the beginning will show I was paying attention.
¡°I told you it isn¡¯t really a big deal--¡± Said Dana.
¡°I know, I know,¡± Alexis cut in.
Dana continued, ¡°--But it has its perks sometimes. I got to work on Blade Fighter C. Those games were everything to me when I was a kid.¡±
¡°I love RPGs, old school turn-based ones were more my style.¡± That isn¡¯t a lie right? I mean I liked adventure games a lot more, especially mystery ones. I really liked Puzzle Knight because instead of regular turn-based combat, you got to play all sorts of minigames. So if she asks me what RPGs I liked when I was a kid, I will probably say that.
¡°Actually, Blade Fighter didn¡¯t always have a real time combat system. They came out before our time but the first three Blade Fighters were turn-based.¡±
¡°Oh, cool!¡± Said Alexis. Great contribution Lex. A+.
¡°Yeah, they updated the combat system when they made the switch to 3D. Older developers are still nostalgic for it so they liked that I said that Blade Fighter C: Deluxe was my favorite during my interview,¡± Dana said.
¡°Wait, wait, which one was that?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°The second one. I had actually just beaten it the weekend before. The ending really stuck with me,¡± Dana said.
¡°Huh, wow,¡± Alexis said. Shit. Where do we even go from here?
There was a brief pause.
¡°If you like turn-based games, you might like it,¡± Dana said.
Wait, wouldn¡¯t I need to play the first game before I play the second? What kind of franchise is this!? Ugh, but if I ask that I will probably sound dumb. It would probably be weird to just come clean, and say I don¡¯t like turn-based JRPGs that much, so I will just give a different reason. That way she won¡¯t be disappointed when I don''t end up trying it later. Assuming she even sees me after this.
¡°Oh I don¡¯t have time to play games anymore, I tend to hyper-focus on them and it starts to affect my job,¡± Alexis said. Great! And it was all true, honestly a great addition to conversation overall.
¡°Ha, here I am talking all about my interests and my career, and I don¡¯t even know what you do for a living,¡± Dana said.
I take it all back! Bad addition to the conversation! Bad addition!
Alexis took a second before continuing. How to even proceed? On my profile I just put ¡°civil servant¡±. I am not gonna try the ¡°top secret¡± line because the last girl just thought I was a fucking fed. Guess I¡¯ll be real with her.
"Trust me, you like, really don''t want to hear about it. I work as a bureaucrat, if the pay wasn¡¯t good I''d have blown my brains out," Alexis said. Fuck, way too real, way too fast! Not to mention way dark! What if that is a sensitive issue for her!?
But before she could apologize, Dana started to talk.
"All night you have heard me talk about myself. Before dinner you heard me talk about my job, then during dinner you let me talk about my sisters, and you just heard about my favorite video games. So I say let''s hear it, " Dana said. Oh man, not really leaving me any choice is she??
There was a brief moment of silence as Alexis contemplated how to respond. Dana began to nonchalantly pour herself a glass of water, and sat back a little in her chair.
¡°Okay, fine. Fine you win--¡± Alexis said.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°Always do,¡± Dana said. She took a sip of water.
¡°I¡¯ll tell you about my job,¡± Alexis said.
She hesitated. Where to even begin? Do I start with the legislation or the actual job itself? Guess if she knows about the legislation that would make this easier.
¡°Okay, do you follow state politics at all?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Sure,¡± Dana responded.
¡°Do you know about SB--Sorry--Senate Bill 4?¡± Alexis asked. Even if she said she follows politics I should try to avoid using shorthand.
¡°No. What is it?¡± Dana replied.
¡°It was the Psychic Rights Act that passed five years ago,¡± Alexis said. Officially SB-4 was ¡®An Act Concerning the Regulation of Telekinetic Labor, Violence, and Discrimination¡¯ but the media wouldn¡¯t stop calling it the Psychic Rights Act. If she has heard of it at all, she probably heard it called it by that name.
¡°So you are a psychic rights activist?¡± Dana asked.
¡°Oh, no. No, I¡¯m not even close,¡° Alexis hastily clarified. Psychics have too many rights as is.
¡°Then what?¡± Dana asked.
¡°Well a smaller provision of that bill allowed local towns to create a Telekinetic Affairs Commission. And I work for one of those,¡± Alexis said.
¡°What do they do?¡± Dana asked.
¡°They exist to give oversight and enforce some existing laws. If you are caught abusing your psychic powers, or like, not letting a psychic into your restaurant, they can issue you a fine, grant, or take away your license to use your powers,¡± Alexis explained.
¡°Okay, but what do you do?¡± Dana asked.
¡°Usually? I take minutes at the monthly meeting. Occasionally I have to send an email. And even rarer than that I help someone file their application to appeal to the commission. But really, the commission doesn¡¯t do much, so I don¡¯t do much,¡± Alexis said.
They both sat there in relative silence. Afterwards, Dana finally responded.
¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever met such a huge hypocrite,¡± Dana said.
What!? Fuck, did I say something rude early? I think I was too blas¨¦ about not being a psychic rights activist earlier.
¡°How, um, how do you figure?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°You go on about how cool and interesting my job seems, and all I do is make trees that take forever to render. Meanwhile you work with actual god damn psychics and manage to make it sound like you would rather be doing anything else,¡± Dana said.
¡°Yeah but you actually make something. My job is to tell a kid why they aren¡¯t allowed to fly at night because their powers are technically regulated as an ultralight aircraft,¡± Alexis shot back. Fuck, why am I even arguing with her?
¡°I can¡¯t figure you out, your profile said you were a progressive but you distanced yourself from psychic rights when I brought it up, and now you are complaining that they are under too much scrutiny. So what is it? What is your stance?¡± Dana asked.
¡°I¡ I am a progressive. It is just hard to explain. I think psychics get it way easier than they should.¡± I really hope she doesn¡¯t ask me why. ¡°And big companies get away with hiring them for PR reasons when in reality all they want to do is exploit their labor. Meanwhile regular people have to actually prove themselves even when they are being hired for the same job. It¡ It isn¡¯t fair,¡± Alexis said.
¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever met an anti-psychic progressive before,¡± Dana said.
¡°I am not an anti-psychic! Just¡ Just you know, skeptical. Overall I think the Psychic Rights Act was a step in the right direction, not just because I have a job because of it,¡± Alexis said.
¡°Well maybe you should just be happy being a part of that step,¡± Dana said.
¡°I guess¡¡± Alexis said.
20:43. That night. Alexis¡¯s Condo, Harmon, New England.
Eventually the conversation had moved on and Alexis had dropped Dana back at her house. Once Alexis got back to her condo, she put her keys on the railing, undid her tie, and crashed on the couch.
You know I think that I should have been honest with her. She probably thought I was a bigot or something because of how weird my stance was. If I just told her the truth then it might have gone worse. She was out of my league anyway so it probably might not have been the conversation about my job that did it.
She turned on her TV and put on some anime to distract herself. Still, the conversation from earlier in the night kept replaying in her mind.
It isn¡¯t that weird, for a progressive to be against psychics, which I am not! Ten years ago when they were revealed to the world, every kid wished as hard as they could that they could be one of the ones who awaken their dormant powers so that nobody could ever bully them again. But what nobody wants to talk or even think about the ones who got their wish. All the pain and hurt that these powers can bring the loved ones of a psychic.
She pulled out her wallet, which was attached to her dress pants by a chain. She opened it up to look at something.
Not to mention all the psychics that use their powers as shortcuts and cheats. How many pro athletes were actually cheating with their powers. Some people even had the nerve to say they should be allowed to compete, as if that doesn¡¯t ruin the whole point of the competition. Not that I even watch sports, but still.
She begins to yawn, as it is very late.
And I barely even touched all the corporations who take advantage of psychics in my conversation earlier. If it wasn¡¯t for the labor regulations in SB-66 corporations would just hire only psychics if they could. Now that psychics have to get relevant licenses if they want to use their powers in place of heavy machinery, the rate of hiring has plateaued, but still how many workplace accidents have I seen where a cocky psychic had their powers go haywire. It just¡ It just isn¡¯t fair¡
These thoughts swirling in her brain, she eventually fell asleep on the couch, lights and TV left on. As she slept, she stirred a bit and her wallet fell. However, due to the length of the chain, it simply dangled at the side of the couch, its contents spilled on the ground. This included her photo ID, some business cards, and a license. A license which marked her as a low-level psychic.
Ch 2. Another Case Solved
08:30. Monday, November 20th, 2023. Alexis¡¯s Condo.
It was the third Monday of the month. That meant Alexis was obligated to go into the office, since there would be a monthly meeting.
Alexis had complicated feelings about mostly working from home. It was in fact completely up to her where she spent her time, and if one simply looked at where she chose to be they would assume she vastly preferred home to Town Hall. The problem was however, she felt on some level she was way more productive at her desk than on her couch, she just didn¡¯t have the motivation to always make the journey. So every normal work day was a constant battle of trying to work up the energy before eventually giving up.
But today was the first Monday of the month, so that battle could be skipped over.
She made sure her hair was washed, her clothes were presentable, and stepped out of the door to her condo. On the way to her car she spotted a van in front of one of her neighbor¡¯s units. It was all white, and on the side it said "DINO MIGHT MOVERS¡± in bold black letters. Underneath was a description of their services and contact info. And their logo, a little dinosaur.
Weird, I guess one of my neighbors got some sort of promotion to shell out for the psychic moving company. At least they¡¯re supporting a local business.
Alexis had actually dealt with the company since she helped with their forms for their telekinetic establishment application, but even if she hadn¡¯t, they were pretty well known. It was started by two highschool kids here in Hermon. One of the pair had awakened to a pretty useful psychic talent: .
The more powerful talents tended to have drawbacks (automatic activation, only targeting certain materials, etc.) but only had a short range. He could only pick up something an inch or two away from him. Probably why he picked the name, strong but short limbed, or maybe he just liked dinosaurs and it sounded cool. He was 17 at the time.
In Lex¡¯s opinion, his friend was the more interesting one. His name was Ike and when they had a case with her board, that was who she mostly interacted with.
Apparently, the moving company was his idea, same with the name. Honestly, the kind of teenager who has a functional business plan the moment his friend tells him he has superpowers was the kind of teenager I respect.
And the business plan was indeed functional.
A lot of people would pay for the novelty of having a psychic move their stuff around. ¡¯s user, Tyler, had gotten so efficient with it he could afford to be theatrical and looking cool while his partner focused on making sure boxes were packed and loaded efficiently.
They were both college age now but had decided to make the company their full time career.
A small crowd of kids and their parents were watching the men while they worked. Presumably, it would have been larger before the bus came to pick up most of them. Tyler was letting one of the kids sit on a box while he carried it with . Alexis actually felt bad for the kids who had to miss it, since that is the kind of thing that she would have loved when she was in elementary school. She was happy for the parents who were willing to drive their kids to school just so they could play.
Alexis gave a wave to some of the parents as she passed by.
09:05. That same day. Harmon Town Hall.
Rolling in at around five minutes after she was supposed to start her work day, she entered the town hall. The building was nothing to write home about. An old joke was that towns in New England were founded when the colonists thought the walk to church had gotten too long. Hence why there are so many towns in New England. Harmon was no different, and broke off from Midport in the 1800¡¯s. When it was first founded, the town actually met at the local church, but as the community grew a proper town hall was built.
References to Harmon¡¯s colonialist past could be found all over, with paintings depicting colonists working set to the backdrops to quiet rural landscapes. It all felt a little whitewashed to Alexis. She passed by a few of the paintings before heading down into the basement toward her office.
Eventually she settled in, and greeted her desk neighbor.
¡°Morning, Aabria.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Good morning, Alexis. How was your weekend?¡± Aabria asked.
¡°Good, I went out to a lovely vegan restaurant last night in Midport. The food was amazing, I wish I could go there more.¡±
¡°Were you there with someone or just wanted to enjoy the night out?¡±
¡°I was on a date but it didn¡¯t go well when we started talking politics.¡±
¡°Girls like you tend to be pretty rigid about their views these days. I am sure that guy was missing out.¡±
¡°Oh, yeah¡¡± Alexis said. She felt a twinge of guilt.
I should come out to her already, it isn¡¯t her fault for just assuming. Besides, she¡¯s cool.
At some point Alexis had made the decision that being a lesbian and a psychic was too awkward to be upfront about.
¡°Anyway, how was your weekend?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°I had coffee with my sister Bernice. But you will never guess what she just heard.¡± Aabria answered excitedly.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°What did she hear?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°She gave me the best case for you yet. A real live ghost-sighting!¡± Aabria said. She gave a light little cackle.
Really with the ghost stories again?
¡°I am always down to go another round of detective with you, Aabria. They are always fun to solve, of course, it helps that ghosts aren¡¯t actually real.¡±
At this point Frank Wilkson had walked in. He was a forty-something year-old man who worked in the Parks and Recreation Department in the office connected theirs. His title was Recreation Director, which was basically as close to ''President of Fun'' as a human could get.
¡°Driscoll, you are on this again I see. Aren¡¯t you literally a psychic?¡± Frank asked Alexis, bemused.
¡°Don¡¯t get me started on all the ways telekinetic powers break physics.¡± Alexis had said. Plus, I never asked to be a psychic, Frank. So I don¡¯t see why being one suddenly means I have to believe in nonsense like spirits or personal world boundaries.
Ever since the great awakening when psychics became reality for the world, belief in the supernatural has been on the rise like never before. People needed an explanation for what was happening.
Although some physicists and neuroscientists gave it their best shot speculating on sorts of things from quantum mechanics to brains influencing undetectable particles, it was mostly the cranks who filled the void.
If a religion preached about the end of days before the great awakening, now they were preaching ten times harder. Some even went as far to say that telekinetics talents weren¡¯t a sign it was the end times, but they were gifts from whatever supernatural entity.
The source of powers was usually God or heavenly if they were pro-psychic, and the devil if they were anti. Occasionally though you had people talking about fair folk and the extraterrestrial spirits.
Some cranks went for a more scientific angle, talking about how telekinetics were people who burst their ''personal world boundary'', the thing that separated an individual mind from their reality. Those people also tended to sell courses and pills claiming they can ¡°burst your PWB¡± for a price of course.
In Alexis¡¯s view, the theories from least to most plausible were: undetectable particle, aliens, PWB, the devil, and god. In that order. Of course, this ranking assumed that God was good and just, which was of course, a big assumption.
¡°Anyway Frank. You are just in time for Detective Driscoll¡¯s latest case!¡± Aabria said.
¡°Yes, yes. Of course.¡± Alexis said, clearing her throat to get into character. ¡°The case details?¡±
¡°Well you know how my sister works over in the business park over on Pinewood Ave? Well, one of her coworkers was locking up their office at night. When she got in her car though, she saw a strange figure still inside.¡± Aabria said.
¡°Spooky!¡± Frank interjected.
¡°That isn¡¯t even the spookiest part! It had strange branches on its head and vanished almost as soon as she saw it! People think that the place is haunted now!¡± Aabria said.
Wow, she is getting really into this one.
¡°Can¡¯t imagine a burglar would have worn such a silly sounding headpiece, so maybe you¡¯re right.¡± Frank said. He gave a little chuckle at his own statement.
¡°Oh, I almost forgot. Some people were worried it actually might have been a robber so they checked the camera¡¯s and couldn¡¯t find anything either. Thankfully nothing was stolen.¡± Aarbria added.
The obvious answer is that the co-worker was mistaken, but that isn¡¯t really how the game works.
The game ¡®Detective Driscoll¡¯ had some unwritten rules to make things fair and to prevent hard feelings. Alexis had to provide an actual workable alternative explanation. Otherwise it would be no fun for anyone.
¡°Okay, okay. I think I have my d¨¦nouement¡¡± Alexis said.
¡°Already? Boo.¡± Aarbria said.
Sometimes the case was weird, so Alexis would need time to think about it, or to research the mechanics at play. This time she didn¡¯t even need any details.
¡°What if the figure wasn¡¯t actually inside the building¡ but outside!¡± Alexis said. She hoped the dramatic pause gave her words a bit more weight.
¡°How would that work?¡± Frank asked.
¡°Easily. Ms. Brown, you said the witness had gotten into her car correct?¡±
¡°I see where you are going with this Alexis, yes that is correct.¡± She still let Alexis have her moment. You know, sometimes, I wonder if Aabria knows the answer before we start playing.
¡°If the building was dark inside, and her car''s lights were on, there was no way she could see inside unless the figure was really close to the window. Instead she would be seeing a reflection. It is the same principle they use for one way mirrors in police interrogation rooms.¡±
¡°So then what wouldn¡¯t that just mean the ghost was outside? What did she see?¡±
¡°Elementary my dear Wilkson! A deer!¡± Alexis said. She had gotten a little animated herself, so she dialed it back. ¡°The branches were probably antlers. She probably didn¡¯t hear it when it ran away over the sound of the car''s engine. Hence why it looked like it disappeared in a flash¡±
The two of them gave Alexis a little round of applause.
What a way to start a workday!
¡°Okay I gotta give it to you, Aabria. That one was really fun to solve.¡±
¡°I ask everyone if they have a good ghost story. More people have one than you think. Even if you don¡¯t believe them, at least you''re nice enough to let me share them and try to take them seriously.¡±
I am glad she feels the same way.
¡°Driscoll, I¡¯m curious. If you like playing detective so much, have you ever thought about trying your hand at being a detective for real? You have a psychic talent so I imagine that would give you a boost among other candidates and you could do some real good.¡±
Alexis felt sheepish. She didn¡¯t like talking about politics in the workplace, even though when you work for a town government it was inevitable.
Can¡¯t just tell him ACAB, but I can at least be partially honest.
¡°I¡¯m¡ not really good under pressure and my talent is pretty weak. Besides, I feel like I am doing good here¡¡±
Alexis had a lot of complicated feelings about her job, but she had a lot less complicated feelings about cops. Between cop or bureaucrat? Bureaucrat. She would rather eat snails (shells and all) everyday than be a cop. And presumably nobody would pay her to eat snails.
Honestly, though, it wasn¡¯t even a fair question. Even a job she respected like firefighter, she would still rather eat slugs (no shells) than do. Though if the shells were non-negotiable she would have to start weighing her options.
It came down to the fact she just didn¡¯t like danger. Or really, it was more than dislike, she was terrified of physical danger. Yup, definitely too cowardly to be a firefighter, I can¡¯t even work up the nerve to talk about politics at work!
¡°Too bad. But I suppose you¡¯re right about not discounting the good your current job does. Civil service is one of the highest callings, after all.¡± Frank said.
¡°Talk about preaching to the choir Frank! I bet you that is the only belief you could get everyone in this damn building to actually agree on!¡± Aarbria said.
They all chucked at that and Alexis relaxed a bit.
Thankfully, I can leave the real mysteries to the true crime podcasts. Expense reports are about as much danger I can take.
Ch 3. A Boring Meeting
18:39. Monday, November 20th, 2023. Town Hall Conference Room.
Alexis walked into the meeting room to start setting everything up. Her boss, Lea, would join her soon closer to the meeting time. She opened up her laptop and signed into their video conferencing software.
It is annoying that I only have to do this for one person, at least the record function makes note taking easier.
Much of the work of running municipal government was volunteer, and most of that volunteer work was done by retirees. The Telekinetic Affairs Commission was no exception. Jeremy was their resident near-octogenarian (he was in his mid-seventies) who lived at the local retirement home, the McBee Community, but sadly didn¡¯t have a ride to the town hall.
There were buses from the McBee Community to the Town Hall but Jeremy ran a weekly film club at the McBee Community that he had to be at before the meeting and couldn¡¯t make it on the bus on time.
Hence the need for video conferencing software for one guy.
This did mean that on the rare occasions that his film club didn¡¯t meet Jeremy would stop by in person. Alexis always thought those times were nice, because she was fond of the old sci-fi nerd.
Once she finished setting up the video conference software her real boss walked in.
Politics was sometimes strange in that you had more than one person who you needed to answer to. In Alexis¡¯s case she had her boss, Lea who was her direct superior. But she also had the three members of the Telekinetic Affairs Commission themselves who she also had to listen to.
But then there was Selector Goodman.
Selector Tyler Goodman was their liaison to the Harmon Board of Selectmen. The Board was their town¡¯s equivalent to a town council, with the First Selectman as their mayor. Selector Goodman was a cis man but as his way of ¡®modernizing¡¯ the outdated New England term preferred the term Selector.
He was the youngest on the board in his late twenties with brown hair. He wore a suit with a blue tie. His hair was a little longer than it was probably supposed to be and Alexis had no idea if he kept it that length deliberately or he just never found the time to cut it.
¡°How¡¯s my favorite busy bee?¡± He asked as he walked in, causing her to jump. This was his nickname for her, named for that fact that she would always keep herself busy around him. He tended to see her anxious traits as signs of industriousness and a hard work ethic rather than the clear mental illness she viewed it as.
¡°Oh you know, just getting everything set up.¡± She responded. Why does he always show up so early? The meeting still isn¡¯t gonna start for another twenty minutes!
¡°I can see that! How have things been?¡± He asked. When was the last time I saw him? Last week we spoke on the phone but other than that I guess since last month.
¡°You know, good. Went out to a restaurant on Saturday, that was nice I guess. How about you?¡±
¡°Pretty good, just happy to be here for another two years!¡± Oh right, I guess his re-election only just happened really.
¡°Yeah, how many terms has it been? Three right?¡±
¡°Yup! After I get sworn in again this will be my fourth.¡± Oops I thought after January this will be his third but thankfully he didn¡¯t catch me miscalculating.
There was a lull in the conversation, but thankfully this is when Lia, Terry, and Margaret came in.
19:02. Same Place and Time.
A good municipal meeting had a rhythm, all productive meetings marched to the beat of parliamentary procedure. A meeting starts by being called to order by the chair who facilitates. For the Telekinetic Affairs Commission this was Margaret.
When Margaret was first nominated to be a commissioner by Selector Goodman four years ago her teenage son had recently awakened to his psychic talent and this was her way of showing her support. Frankly Alexis found it a better reason than most had for getting involved in town government and she quickly found herself as the chair of the three person commission.
As chair it was her job to set the meeting agenda by working with Lia and to facilitate the meetings by following parliamentary procedure. The first step of which is calling a meeting to order.
¡°I call this meeting to order. Let¡¯s begin by doing roll call: Jeremy?¡±
¡°Here.¡± Jeremy said through the laptop speakers.
¡°Terry?¡±
¡°Uh-huh.¡± Said Terry. He looks as bored as always.
Terry is the only member of the Telekinetic Affairs Commission who was actually psychic. He was also the most recent appointment as well.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
¡°Okay and let the minutes reflect that we also have two guests with us, Alexis and Lia who are staff members. Now for the pledge of allegiance.¡±
There is always something vaguely dystopian about this. She thought as they began. The fact that people in local government actually do the pledge of allegiance at the top of meetings came as a shock to Alexis when she first discovered it after being hired. It was apparently commonplace in many towns in New England but that fact never sat well with her.
She elected to only mouth the words this time. She noticed Terry doing the same.
The next part of the meeting was the approval of the agenda and the minutes for the previous meeting. Both are just weird formalities required by proper parliamentary procedure. After it was time for the chair¡¯s report. The chair usually gave a report at the top of the meeting as a way of welcoming people, talk about the health of the deliberative body. Lia gave a report to the meeting about her and my activities for the month since she was the senior staff person. Then it was time for public comments.
They usually had no one show up for public comments unless there was something important on the agenda, which there wasn¡¯t today.
After that Selector Goodman gave his report on what the Board of Selectmen were up to.
¡°As many of you have heard, there was an incident at the highschool. A student was putting up flyers on the lockers of psychic students. These flyers were swiftly taken down and the student was immediately caught but it is getting out on social media.¡±
Full on psychic hatred was kind of rare unless the person was a very specific type of person, such as the victim of violence from a psychic. A surprising amount of bigots didn¡¯t tend to need a reason to hate who they hate however, even if what it even means to be a psychic wasn¡¯t set in stone yet.
However these flyers were not hate-mongering about how psychics are the unholy result of the merger between demon and man they were more about fear-mongering. A simple request that the students transfer out of the school so as not to put the other students in danger. Alexis tried not to contemplate the reasonableness of the request or the perpetrator''s motivations however. Though that didn¡¯t stop others from drawing their own conclusions.
¡°I think they just were jealous.¡± Said Jeremy. ¡°What kid doesn¡¯t wish they had super powers? I know I sure did.¡±
¡°That isn¡¯t important Jeremy.¡± Said Margaret. She turned to Selector Goodman. ¡°Will the school board get involved at all?¡±
¡°There really isn¡¯t anything to get involved with, the student was caught, the school punished him appropriately, and when word started to spread about the situation the superintendent released a statement. If you want to get more info I can always forward you their number Margaret, though obviously speaking about the specifics of disciplinary records of students is frowned upon.
Once that was over they moved onto the main portion of the meeting, what is known as ¡°business¡±. Business was separated into old business and new business and this was the section of the meeting dedicated to actually getting the work of the deliberative body done and deciding on what needed to be decided on.
The Telekinetic Affairs Commission had a few different responsibilities which they handled during the business part of the meeting.
First, they were responsible for investigating ¡°Discriminatory practices¡± as defined by state statute. Specifically relating to telekinetic ability. This includes housing, credit, and employment ¡°except in the case of a bona fide occupational qualification or need¡±. It also includes public accommodations so businesses can¡¯t refuse to serve psychics or non-psychics.
Second, they were responsible for regulation of ¡°telekinetic establishments¡±. These were defined in the ordinance as ¡°Any vehicle or place where a telekinetic talent is being employed for use in its operations.¡±
It didn¡¯t just apply to businesses, it included universities, research companies, non-profits, even other municipal agencies. However, the federal government was excluded since state and local laws didn¡¯t apply to them.
Essentially, if you wanted to let a psychic use their powers as part of their job, you were included in this ordinance. This didn¡¯t apply if you just hired a psychic but just had them do regular work without their talent and it also had a carve out for personal use of a telekinetic talent.
Using pyrokinesis to light your cigarette was fine, but if your boss wanted to start saving money on welding torches they were gonna need to follow some strict rules to prove they weren¡¯t gonna burn the place down.
This is where the Telekinetic Establishment License came in. To get one, a telekinetic establishment needed to fill out the application. To get an application approved, the psychic they wished to employ needed to have their Telekinetic Operator Certification.
Certifications were handled by the Department of Telekinetic Services, which was a state agency. Certifications served as evidence that a psychic could use their talent without endangering themselves or others in high stress environments.
After a psychic attained their certification, their talent would be registered and they would be free to work for any licensed telekinetic establishment.
Finally, the Telekinetic Affairs third responsibility was maybe its most boring, and least consequential. That was to collaborate with other municipal commissions, agencies, and departments to ¡°provide community events promoting telekinetic education, awareness, and civic engagement¡±.
Sometimes this could be fun. Usually for Alexis it wasn¡¯t.
¡°The first item under new business the Harmon Chief of Police has reached out to us to conduct a sensitivity training.¡± Margaret said.
Even if some saw her as a squish on some aspects of the psychic issue, Alexis, at her heart, was sincerely a progressive. She didn''t just put that on her LoveHer profile because it made it easier to date other women, even if it definitely did.
Like any good progressive, Alexis supported police reform. That is what she would claim anyway. However, in actuality, she was much more supportive of full-on police abolitionism. But problematically Alexis couldn''t really defend her position. That wouldn''t be an issue normally, lots of people held radical beliefs they couldn''t defend, but working at municipal government sometimes made that reality¡ complicated.
Even if Alexis had a more moderate stance on police however, dealing with the Harmon Chief of Police would be difficult for anyone. He was controlling and hyper critical of any and everyone around him which didn¡¯t earn him many fans.
Glad Lia usually runs the sensitivity trainings so I don¡¯t have to deal with that shit storm.
¡°Did he say what time was his preference?¡± Asked Lia.
¡°Yeah, two weeks on December 2nd. Lia you have this handled, right?¡±
¡°No good, that is when I start my vacation, Alexis will have to run it in my place.¡±
Shit.
Ch 4. The Assignment
20:05 Monday, November 20th, 2023. Town Hall Conference Room.
The rest of the meeting was spent in a daze, focusing on her role as the one taking the minutes for the meeting. Eventually they adjourned and Alexis, her boss Lia, and Selector Goodman were the only three left as Alexis packed up her things.
¡°Good meeting overall. I have to say this next year is shaping up to be even better than the last.¡± Selector Goodman said.
¡°I think you¡¯re right Tyler. How did you think it went, Alexis?¡±
¡°Huh? Oh good. I was mostly focused on the notes.¡± Alexis replied.
¡°By the way, tomorrow morning if you can send me an email and I can send you the materials. You probably only need to add a little bit more to the presentation we gave to the school employees to make it relevant.¡± Lia said.
¡°Oh, good, okay thanks. Will do.¡± After that Alexis excused herself while Lia and Selector Goodman continued their conversation.
¡°Nobody has more power than the police.¡± That was what Alexis''s mom had once told her.
Alexis¡¯s mom was a journalist, and she was good. At least Alexis thought so. She never did anything particularly amazing. She never won a Pulitzer or went undercover to do any big expose, but she was consistent.
Her background was in public policy, it is what she went to school for. And during her time in college she went on to make a lot of friends, a lot of those friends then later went into politics. And it is because of this that she had a lot of connections at the state capital, connections who she could use as sources. She understood policy and policy makers, which made it easier for her to write about it.
But that changed when the paper got bought out. The new owners wanted to make all sorts of changes: staff cuts, pay cuts, even cuts to their benefits.
Her mom was part of the team that tried to unionize. It didn''t work, the changes still went through. To retaliate against her, the owners had her moved to the crime desk.
A journalist is only as good as their sources, and none of her sources were in law enforcement. When she thought a politician was lying, she could rely on her network to help verify the claim.
She didn''t have that network for cops. Worse, if she ever tried to fact check their statements and press releases they would completely stonewall her when it came time for the next story.
It was when Alexis was 13, that was when her mom quit journalism entirely.
She never talked about why, Alexis always had to put the pieces together herself. When Alexis was 15, she tried to get more information out of her mom.
That was when she snapped at Alexis, Alexis struggled to remember any time where her mom yelled at her like that. That was when she told her. "Nobody has more power than the police. Be their friend, be their enemy, it doesn¡¯t matter. Because they have all the power they could want."
Alexis never understood exactly what she meant. She got that cops had guns, and later when she went to college she learned about stuff like the monopoly of violence. But still she got the jist of it. Avoid cops whenever possible.
Alexis never summoned up the courage to ask her mom about it, even though it always felt like there was more to the story than Alexis felt her mom had kept from her.
Eventually, her mom bounced back. A friend got her a job in a communications office where she just writes press releases. To anyone else, it would have seemed like a pretty normal career move, but anyone who knew her knew that her idealistic side had all but faded.
Alexis had been watching anime when her phone started to ring causing her to come back into her senses. She realized she hadn¡¯t been paying attention to anything that was said for the past two episodes and that she would have to go back. She picked up the phone.
¡°Jen? What¡¯s up?¡±
Jen was the only person Alexis could really call her friend. They met on Alexis¡¯s favorite dating app, FindHer, but ¡®didn¡¯t click romantically¡¯ so ¡®mutually¡¯ settled on being friends. Alexis was fine with the arrangement.
¡°Hey girlie, you busy?¡± Jen asked. The ¡®girlie¡¯ thing was new, she started saying it after listening to a podcast.
¡°I always have time for you, what¡¯s going on?¡± Alexis responded.
¡°You never told me the deets after your date on saturday!¡± Jen said.
¡°Oh yeah, with Dana in Midport. Well considering neither of us has messaged the other since Saturday I am gonna deduce it was bad? Yeah, definitely bad.¡± Alexis said.
Alexis idly opened up the app and saw that there were, indeed, no new messages from Dana. Though in better news she saw Dana hadn¡¯t blocked her so she still put that in the top ten percent of dates she has gone on.
¡°OMG Lexy, again? Was it really that bad or are you just exaggerating to gain some pity?¡± Jen said.
¡°A little bit of column A etc. etc. I think she was upset with my lack of enthusiasm for the psychic cause.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Wow, was she a psychic too then?¡± Jen said.
¡°No no.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Wait¡ so did she, like, not give you time to explain you were a psychic or¡?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Kinda¡ Not¡ really.¡± Alexis was starting to feel a little embarrassed.
¡°Alexis Driscoll, did you let this poor Dina girl think you were some kind of anti-psychic!¡± Jen shouted.
¡°It¡¯s complicated And it¡¯s Dana not Dina, for the record.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Dana, Dina, Dino, whatever. Why didn¡¯t you just explain yourself? She probably would have given you some leeway.¡± Jen said.
¡°I don¡¯t see why I would need leeway or any kind of leniency! I am right! Being a psychic comes with like a bunch of upsides and no downsides. I don¡¯t get why people treat it the same as oppressed groups that have been oppressed for millenia. Psychic Talents have been around for barely 10 years.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Oh no, I triggered rant mode. How do I make it stop?¡± Jen said.
¡°It is too late! Seriously at work they were talking about this kid who fliered the school and all they had asked was for the psychic kids to maybe consider becoming homeschooled. Which, by the way, is literally how it is done in some states.
¡°But just for doing they were painted in the same brush as, like, a homophobe. You know how fucked up that is? But everyone has just settled into this narrative that having a psychic talent is some natural human trait when it literally isn¡¯t.¡± Alexis said.
¡°You are just repeating yourself at this point. I have heard you give this same rant like three times now. You aren¡¯t any better than my uncle at thanksgiving.¡± Jen said.
¡°You are needling on purpose at this point.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Might have been.¡± Jen said innocently.
¡°Anyway, the point is how we choose to frame being a psychic matters. Thinking of it as an identity rather than, like, a dangerous tool that needs to be learned to be wielded for society''s benefit is gonna lead to some disastrous consequences down the line.¡± Alexis said.
¡°I swear if I could I am sure I could prove some of your points are just contradictory. I just can¡¯t hold it all in my head at once.¡± Jen said.
¡°Yeah yeah.¡± Alexis dismissed.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°Anyway that still doesn¡¯t explain why you wouldn¡¯t just tell your date you are a psychic before you went on the rant. Even if you don¡¯t think you should need to, it¡¯s gotta beat being single!¡± Jen said.
¡°Jen, I''m barely a psychic. I have literally the lowest danger level you can get and I think the last time I used it was maybe three months ago.¡± Alexis said.
Alexis was considered by the state agency in charge of rating how dangerous a psychic talent is to be as small a threat as possible: Danger Level 1. Danger levels were calculated by how deadly they would be if they were rampage and how easy a talent would be to trigger (if they were automatic). Hers being that low meant that it was unlikely that she could ever hurt anyone.
¡°You know there is no such thing as being ¡®barely a psychic¡¯, either you can move stuff with your mind or you can¡¯t. You can. I can''t.¡±
¡°Well I can¡¯t move things with my mind either.¡± Sadly her talent wasn¡¯t nearly that useful.
¡°Whatever you know what I meant.¡±
¡°Okay okay. Can we talk about something else? Like what have you been up to?¡±
¡°Fine, we don''t have to keep talking in circles then. I¡¯ve been good. I finally started watching Angel Fighter Neon since you keep harping on how good it is.¡±
¡°Really! That makes me so proud, I have been rewatching it again since it is my goto comfort show.¡±
Alexis and Jen continued to chat until late into the night.
15:03 Tuesday, November 21th, 2023. Alexis¡¯s Condo.
As Alexis uploaded the minutes from yesterday¡¯s meeting to the town website, her work phone started to ring. This, as it always did, caused her heart rate to immediately start to beat faster as. Yup, still no better than Pavlov''s dog, just been absolutely conditioned to associate that sound with stress. She looked at the caller ID and saw it was from an unknown number.
¡°Alexis Driscoll with Telekinetic Affairs. How can I help you today?¡± Alexis may have hated the moments right before a work call but loved how good she had gotten at ¡®customer service voice¡¯.
¡°Hey, is this the right place? I don¡¯t usually have to deal with this kind of shit.¡± Alexis couldn¡¯t make out if whoever was on the other end was a man with a higher pitch voice or a woman with a deeper voice. Should I ask for pronouns?
¡°That depends, do you live or work here in Harmon?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡± the stranger said.
¡°Great! So how can I help you today si--friend.¡± Alexis said, catching herself. Great customer service, almost misgendered them right off the bat.
¡°I wanted to schedule an appointment. I had a few questions about the laws and stuff about psychics. Is that okay?¡± The stranger said.
¡°Yeah, what is your availability?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°I took a sick day today. Is there anything today? If not it would have to be later in the week.¡± the stranger said.
¡°Um¡¡± Alexis hesitated.
¡°Oh to be clear I am not actually fucking sick. Just needed a mental health day.¡± the stranger clarified.
Alexis thought about it. In a rare win for her had already sent in the minutes and they were uploaded on the town¡¯s site. She was gonna celebrate her not procrastinating by taking an easy day. I guess I don¡¯t really have a good reason to say no.
¡°Yeah I have some availability an hour from now. Do you need directions to my office?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°No, I should be able to find it. See you at four.¡± the stranger said.
16:03 Tuesday, November 21th, 2023. Town Hall.
As she walked into her office she quickly greeted Frank who was still in the office. Aabria always left by around 4 pm on the dot since she starts her day at around 8 am. Frank quipped that he was getting the rare double dose of Driscoll this week with Alexis forcing herself to chuckle at the dad humor.
¡°Sorry, can¡¯t talk. I am supposed to be meeting with a resident any minute.¡± Alexis said.
¡°No worries, good luck.¡± Fred responded, then went back to his work at the computer.
She needn¡¯t have rushed herself however, since even after she waited ten minutes till after they had agreed to meet, and just about before she was gonna give them a call to cancel, the resident showed up.
She was wearing a simple black t-shirt and dark skinny jeans. She had a septum and eyebrow piercing but Alexis couldn¡¯t tell if her ears were also pierced due to her long dark brown hair. Alexis briefly wondered what the rules were when it came to complimenting people you just met when you were at work and decided to simply avoid the issue by sticking to a professional persona.
¡°Oh, uh, you must be the person I spoke with over the phone. I never got your name when we spoke. ¡± She was really trying to put up that professional wall. Gotta act competent since their taxes pay my salary.
¡°It¡¯s Pam.¡± said the stranger.
¡°Okay, Pam. Mind if I ask your pronouns?¡± Alexis asked. Damn, guess I just went for it.
¡°She/her, yeah I thought I heard you almost call me sir on the phone.¡± Pam said.
¡°Oh, uh, yeah. Apologies.¡± Alexis said. Apologies instead of sorry. That will show her you¡¯re a professional Lexie.
¡°No worries, it tends to happen over the phone. I just have a bit of a rasp to my voice.¡± Pam said.
There was an awkward pause.
¡°So, about what you called me about? The regulations?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Yeah, I had a few. It¡¯s kinda funny, I have been a psychic for a few years now. In fact there was even a time I wouldn¡¯t have agreed to talk in person at all because it was so bad, but I was wondering if you would be able to help me get registered?¡± Pam asked.
Alexis nodded as Pam talked. But stopped when she mentioned registration. ¡°Oh we don¡¯t handle registration for individuals, we only deal with business registrations. If you want a license you need to talk to the state department for that. They¡¯ll handle things like assessing your danger levels and granting you a license.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Wait, so what do you guys do?¡± Pam asked.
¡°After you get registered, if a business wanted to employ your psychic talent they would come in to apply to become what is known ¡°telekinetic establishment¡±. As part of registration you will be required to take a course about best practices for using a talent in the workplace and if your employer ever violated those best practices you would come here to lodge a complaint.¡± Alexis explained.
¡°Would¡ um¡ okay. And can they lodge a complaint against a psychic?¡± Pam asked hesitantly.
¡°Well, no. See they would have to prove that the psychic was recklessly using their power, which can be pretty tough. They would need evidence such as destruction of property to make that sort of claim.¡± Pam seemed a little bit relieved at hearing that. ¡°But even then, they wouldn¡¯t lodge the complaint here, they would lodge it with the state department. They have their own set of processes for determining if a license needs to be taken away or not.¡± Alexis said.
¡°That¡¯s it though? They don¡¯t arrest you? Or make you pay a fine.¡± Pam asked.
Wait, why exactly is she asking this?
¡°Pam. Is there something you want to tell me? I should remind you that my only duty to report is if I think that you are going to imminently harm yourself or others, I¡¯m not like a cop or anything.¡± Alexis said.
Pam visibly seemed to relax at Alexis'' attempt at reassurance. I hadn¡¯t even realized her shoulders were so tense.
¡°So¡ Is there something you want to explain?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°I really can¡¯t get in trouble?¡± Pam responded.
¡°Again, unless you plan to hurt anyone.¡± Alexis clarified. Pam shook her head in response.
Pam then began to lay it all out on the table. ¡°Okay. So I work for Hoplite, you know the fulfillment center over on Millbrook ave?¡± Alexis nodded her head. ¡°Well recently the work has been taxing, like physically taxing. And when I brought this up to my supervisor he just told me I shouldn¡¯t complain and if I needed a break to just ¡®use that brain of yours¡¯.¡± Alexis¡¯s eyes went wide.
The rules were strict, even if Hoplite was a telekinetic establishment, which it wasn¡¯t, even the insinuation that an unlicensed psychic should use their to perform workplace duties was a fine-worthy on its own.
¡°So I did. Like, a few times¡ Am I really not gonna get in trouble? I don¡¯t have a license so they can¡¯t really take it away right?¡± Pam asked.
Alexis thought about this. There was a lot of stuff she was supposed to ask. Just this tipoff was enough to conduct an investigation.
¡°Okay, before I start. If what you say is true, you have already given me enough to have us launch an investigation. But I want to ask, what are you looking to get out of this situation? I should remind you that the fees that Hoplite may pay wouldn¡¯t be going to you.¡± Alexis said.
She did seem a bit disappointed about that. But then again who wouldn¡¯t want a free pay day?
¡°So my powers are pretty unstable, I only recently got control over them. At this point, I am just worried about hurting someone or god forbid I get hurt myself. I can¡¯t really afford to pay for my or someone else¡¯s hospital bills.¡± Pam said.
¡°Well the good news is that, legally, them creating an unsafe work environment isn¡¯t on you. So there is that.¡± Alexis said.
¡°That is some good fucking news!¡± Pam said.
¡°The bad news is that you are probably gonna want to file a complaint. If something happens and you are gonna want to have proof that they were creating a situation which led to you putting yourself and others at risk.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Oh I see, having it in writing helps me cover my own ass.¡± Pam said.
¡°Yeah, but I should probably warn you. There is a chance of retaliation.¡± Alexis said.
¡°What do you mean? Like I could get fired?¡± Pam asked.
¡°Yeah, there are protections for whistleblowers but it is still a very real risk.¡± Alexis answered.
Pam seemed a little wide-eyed at that. Alexis thought it could also have been that she hadn¡¯t really thought of what she was doing as whistleblowing before this.
¡°Do you think I could come back then? This seems like way bigger a decision then I thought it would be.¡± Pam said.
¡°Of course, take all the time you need. You have my number. Whenever you are ready I¡¯ll walk you through the process and help you file the complaint.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Thanks¡ I have a lot to think about. We¡¯ll be in touch.¡± Pam said.
¡°Of course, hope to hear from you soon. Alexis said.
Much to Alexis¡¯s disappointment, however, Pam never ended up making that call.
Ch 5. The Presentation
09:03. Friday, December 1st, 2023. HPD Community Room.
HPD headquarters was a lot smaller than the Town Hall, but Alexis had to admit it was a lot nicer. She had booked the community room for this training. Her stomach was already in knots. Lex it¡¯s fine! You are just doing your job. The notion that this was the same defense used at Nuremberg did not escape her, though she did her best to quiet that part of her brain down.
Nobody was here yet. The administrator she talked to told her that she wouldn¡¯t be able to use her own laptop if she wanted to use the projector. She set her messenger bag on the table and went to find the administrator who helped her log into the desktop connected to the projector.
She confirmed that she wouldn¡¯t need to use the speakers since her presentation didn¡¯t have any sound, then thanked her for helping with the setup. With a few more pleasantries exchanged, the admin turned on the projector and left to return to her desk.
She seems like a nice lady, wonder what made her want to work for the cops?
It was the part of her job Alexis most struggled with. People in Hermon were just fine with dealing with the police. She knew that her problems with cops weren¡¯t even necessarily rational. That isn¡¯t to say they weren¡¯t based on facts, just that facts didn¡¯t exactly apply to someone like her.
Ugh, I hate thinking about this. At least if I can get through this they probably won¡¯t ask me to do another training for a while. Just gotta stay focused.
She logged into her account, pulled out her presentation, set it to full screen and waited. Eventually officers started to file in. The HPD weren¡¯t exactly diverse, there were only two female officers in the whole department. A patrol officer and one of the school resource officers. There was also only one female sergeant.
They were slightly more diverse on racial lines, but not by much.
Of course better hiring practices aren''t some magic solution. Not like training is gonna be the magic fix either though.
In attendance there were five patrol officers, two sergeants, a detective, the chief, and the two school resource officers. Of course Selector Goodman was also here like he said he would be.
Even though she was fairly certain that Selector Goodman wasn¡¯t familiar with any of the cops on a personal level besides the chief, he didn¡¯t exactly seem uncomfortable. He made his way through the room, shaking people¡¯s hands. Some of the cops he exchanged a little bit more small talk with than the others.
Guess it makes sense that the HPD probably has more than a few townies in it.
It was like Town Hall in that regard. It is was easier to get a job in the local government if your family has been here a while.
In comparison to Selector Goodman, Alexis was not as smooth an operator. She did her best to greet people as they had walked in, but that was the furthest she could push herself. Instead she just checked her notes while periodically scanning the room.
They were 5 minutes past the start time, but just as she was about to ask people to take their seats, one more person walked through the door.
Selectman Ivan Sobol was a tall man and more than a little lanky. He wore a simple leather jacket, dark brown. There weren¡¯t any patches on it, but there was an american flag pin on one of the lapels. Underneath his jacket was a white button down shirt and red tie.
¡°Guess they¡¯ll let anyone walk in here now!¡± One of the lieutenants shouted.
¡°Hey mister, if you''re here to report your missing toupee wait out front and someone will take your statement.¡± Another officer said, who himself had a combover.
¡°No, he must be looking for his client and got lost. Sharks don¡¯t tend to navigate land that well.¡± A cop who had been speaking to Selector Goodman quipped. At this everyone in the room laughed.
Selectman Sobol held out his hands in mock protest. ¡°Yes, yes. Just remember who controls your budget. Few more jabs like and you lot would be lucky to afford a new coffee maker.¡± Then he made his way to the back of the room to join his brother, Chief of Police Borris Sobol.
Contrary to what the previous jokes about him might have you believe, Selectman Sobol was not in fact a defense attorney--though his hair was a little thin. Rather, he had a law-firm in town, Gosling & Sobol, which specializes in employer-side labor relations and business law.
Alexis only knew that because every union in town hated him, including hers. Though Alexis had a guess that the police union probably didn¡¯t feel the same way since they did endorse him last election.
I wish I knew if he was invited by Selector Goodman or Chief Sobol. If it was Selector Goodman then that means he is here as a show of support. Could even be a political favor to Goodman for help on some other piece of legislation. But if it was Chief Sobol¡
If Selectman Sobol was invited by his brother that meant he was here to do the opposite. To ensure the HPD not to take any of this training seriously.
Well, there¡¯s no way to know. Gotta just put my game face on.
¡°Now that we are all here let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡± She clicked the first slide and started to introduce herself.
The first section mostly served as an introduction. Covering who she was, what the telekinetic affairs commission does, and having them introduce themselves. Then she set some ground rules.
The next few sections covered the basics.
Some of it was criminally basic like what year did psychics start to manifest. Answer: 2018. What terms are most acceptable. Answer: ¡®psychic¡¯, ¡®talent-user¡¯, ¡®telekinetic¡¯, and ¡®psychokinetic¡¯ were all acceptable while ¡®psycho¡¯ was not (for a number of reasons).
Okay, doing well, just gotta keep up the momentum.
¡°Now for the misconceptions, while most people can name a lot of examples about what psychics can do, perhaps the three biggest misconceptions relate to what they can¡¯t do. Anyone want to guess what those are?¡± Alexis then posed the question to the group.
¡°Telepathy?¡± Answered Officer Carmen Sanchez. She was one of two school resource officers.
¡°Yup, that¡¯s one.¡± Alexis responded.
¡°Mind control!¡± Someone from the back shouted. Alexis wasn¡¯t looking in that direction but she assumed since it came from the back that it was one of the lieutenants.
¡°Okay, that¡¯s two. Anyone know the third?¡± Alexis asked.
There was an awkward silence. The third one didn¡¯t always come up. ¡°Well that is fine, the third is being able to see the future.¡± Alexis said.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°There goes my plan for winning the lottery!¡± Officer ¡°Doug¡± McDougal quipped. He was the cop with a combover who had joined in on razzing Selectman Sobol. The room gave him a few chuckles.
I wish he would stop doing that, it¡¯s gonna derail the presentation. Well that is if one of his jokes ends up being funny.
She probably could have said something if it bothered her so much, but she knew that wouldn¡¯t play well in this crowd.
That wouldn¡¯t have mattered to her. In fact, making this as boring as possible for every pig there might have actually lifted her spirits after having to participate in this farce. Even if it meant she would be playing the part of the buzzkill bureaucrat.
But Selector Goodman was there, and he had clearly wanted the presentation to go well. So she had to roll with the punches even if it ate at her.
¡°What are some other misconceptions about psychics?¡± She asked the room.
After a beat Selector Goodman said ¡°That they are all violent.¡±
Even if only a few of them need to be to ruin it for the rest of us.
¡°Yeah, yeah that¡¯s a good one. Anything else?¡±
¡°I got one.¡± Said Officer McDougal.
Well there is no way this isn¡¯t awful, is there?
¡°Being psychic doesn¡¯t necessarily make you any smarter than anyone else.¡±
Alexis felt a little relieved. ¡°That is actually a great example, psychics aren¡¯t better or smarter than anyone else. Psychics are only human after all.¡±
Officer McDougal nodded sagely at that. ¡°Definitely human, I know because I once saw Officer Nerfgun over there put his phone in the toaster while talking to his bagel.¡± That got a lot more chuckles than his last joke.
¡°Hey! I told you I didn¡¯t mix them up! I just dropped it by accident!¡± Said the officer in question.
This was Officer Riley Clark, the one and only psychic in HPD. The nickname probably game from his talent,
. It shot compressed air in the direction he pointed at. It wouldn¡¯t shock Alexis if ¡®officer nerf gun¡¯ was probably the nicer of his nicknames, since she could think of a cruder one.
The two officers continued to bicker, as Alexis resigned herself to her fate.
It''s weird to think that before awakening his powers he was a manager at a thrift store.
Alexis had actually gone to his swearing in ceremony since all town employees were ¡®voluntold¡¯ to attend.
It was there she overheard a few higher ranking officers talking about how good a get he was for the town, since
has a unique mix of being non-lethal while powerful. There were better talents, of course. Ones that were better for trapping and stopping people. But they apparently didn¡¯t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.
He apparently felt the urge to don a badge after watching some cop show where a character talked about the good combat oriented psychics can do for their community. She shook her head thinking about it. Just another victim of Comic Book Syndrome.
Comic Book Syndrome was the name the media granted to a tendency that psychics or people close to/obsessed with psychics had to confuse fantasy with reality. It was said to be more potent in those who awakened to their powers earlier than for those who were older. And it usually took the form of trying to act like a superhero, but it could take the form of any genre or media a person tried to map on to the whole ¡®psychics are now real¡¯ situation.
This was dangerous, because kids acting like they were invulnerable already made them reckless without the consequence of powers getting involved. Teens also believing they had literal plot armor was a recipe for disaster.
Comic Book Syndrome wasn¡¯t an official diagnosis and some even denied it existed but Alexis believed it existed. She believed it with her whole heart.
In fact, she believed it applied to way more people than society pretended it did. It was just that in cases like Officer Clark¡¯s, society benefited from his delusion that he could be a super cop. Because he was a super cop now. Alexis sometimes wondered if certain media was constructed to give people those delusions deliberately.
Alexis wished she could talk about that in the training. She couldn¡¯t, Comic Book Syndrome was blatantly an anti-psychic sentiment ever since its origins in the reactionary rags that first coined it. But at least she would get to talk about something interesting.
After the room died down, instead of asking for any more misconceptions she just moved on.
¡°I think that wraps up the presentation. Now is the time for q&a. I can¡¯t promise I will be able to answer everything, but I should know where to find the answer depending on what it is.¡±
She had gone over a lot. Her least favorite part being the state police¡¯s guidance for dealing with psychics who are actively resisting arrest using their talent. She actually felt a little queasy at that part. But thankfully it was over and she could get out of here soon.
¡°You mentioned that some people may consider it rude to point blank ask if they are a psychic. What if they are a student who recently awakened their talent? What would be the best way to get them resources they could use if you can¡¯t ask them about it.¡± Asked Officer Sanchez.
Out of anyone in the room Officer Sanchez was probably the most engaged throughout the presentation, probably because she worked in the highschool where a lot of freshmen would just start awakening their talent. She also seemed to be pretty studious about the subject since even the other SRO there didn¡¯t seem to care half as much.
It sucks she is the only one who seems to be getting anything out of this. She reminds me of a lot of teachers who I have given this training to. Wish she had a job that didn¡¯t just exist because of the school to prison pipeline.
¡°It is good that you would want to get them resources. Newly awakened talent-users are actually at their most vulnerable. Especially younger ones. Even something as simple as a pamphlet about what they can expect might be crucial.¡±
Sure wish they had those when I first got my powers!
¡°But it''s that same vulnerability that means it is important to be all the more careful. In addition to everything else they are grappling with, talent-users may have all sorts of preconceived notions they have to work through, and singling them out could make the situation worse.¡±
¡°What I suggest is to make sure every student is made aware of the resources available. That way they are always informed in case they themselves awaken their powers.¡±
Normally she would have also said to make sure students always know that they can talk to you if they want to open up about their powers themselves, but she just couldn''t say it in good conscience.
She really didn¡¯t think the first person any kid should go to when they have such a sensitive issue is the same person who could arrest that kid if they accidentally admit to doing anything illicit with their new powers.
¡°What about if they are a suspect in an investigation?¡± Asked Detective Shin. It was the first time he had engaged with the presentation the entire time outside of introducing himself. Alexis was starting to get a pit in her stomach.
¡°If they are registered you should get that information anyway if their employer provides you with payroll information.¡±
They didn¡¯t have to, and very much in Alexis¡¯s opinion shouldn¡¯t.
¡°That is assuming they employ their talent for commercial use. Otherwise they aren¡¯t required to register but asking them directly would definitely open you up to accusations of discrimination.¡±
The Detective nodded and looked satisfied at her answer.
Fuck I really hope his question was a hypothetical. This training was supposed to teach the HPD why it is wrong to discriminate, not make them more effective at it.
¡°I have a question!¡± Said Officer Class Clown. She was really getting sick of Officer McDougal¡¯s shit.
¡°If it is another jab about Officer Clark, I am not gonna answer it.¡±
¡°I was just gonna ask if you knew anything about psychic brain sizes.¡± There was a decent chance he was asking a legit question, it wasn¡¯t like that neuroscientists haven¡¯t been curious about the difference between psychic brains and non-psychic ones. But whatever chance it was, the real question had gone down considerably over the course of this presentation.
¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe consult a doctor if you are worried about not measuring up.¡± Alexis replied.
The room burst out in laughter and it took her a second to realize exactly what words left her mouth. Fuck, even if it makes officer funny man shut up, making this crowd laugh actually somehow feels worse than giving them tips for how to find a psychic¡¯s weakness.
As the HPD laughed, and the knot in her stomach started to grow, a voice in the back cut through the noise.
¡°The Costume Game.¡± It was Chief Boris Sobol. As he said those words the room fell silent.
Ch 6. The Costume Game
¡°The Costume Game.¡± Chief Sobol said. ¡°You didn¡¯t mention it once.¡±
The room was tense. Alexis looked around, she made eye contact with Selector Goodman. He gave a¡ Hesitant nod that she should answer. She grabbed her bottle of water and collected her thoughts.
The Costume Game, sometimes called Capes and Cowls, or the Villainous/Vigilante Vows. Was controversial. If it was socially acceptable to do so Alexis preferred to just dismiss it as Comic Book Syndrome on steroids if she ever had to think of it at all.
Whereas Comic Book Syndrome was just a small observation about the tendency of kids to think they are more special than they are, the Costume Game was a full-on moral panic.
Some people had powers that were dangerous, nobody could argue with that. All it took was a few people who desperately wanted to use them to really cause some damage.
Take someone with delusions of grandeur, immense powers, a willingness to use them, and just a bit of comic book syndrome and you got a player of the costume game.
The Costume Game itself was a subculture that started developing when the first psychics came into their powers, which also served to regulate the actions of all its players.
Depending on where you lived the costume game could manifest in many forms. Sometimes all it meant was that your neighborhood watch wore colorful outfits. Sometimes it meant gangs of ¡°villains¡± using their powers to monopolize their local drug trade. Sometimes it meant gangs of ¡°heroes¡± using their powers to perform protection rackets. And in one town in New Mexico, the rules of the Costume Game were apparently its only laws, because the cops had all fled in fear.
That if you believed every salacious newspaper, rumor, and manifesto you could find. Frankly, a lot of the talk about the Costume Game seemed to reek, ironically, of Comic Book Syndrome. How could any group of psychics run the cops out of town? Sure, some psychics could be bulletproof. But usually that was all they were, that didn¡¯t make them more capable of taking on cops. And Alexis knew better than anyone that the federal government had methods to take on problematic psychics.
And if that wasn¡¯t enough, usually the state of whatever town that was supposedly taken over by psychics had a habit of changing with the story teller. Sometimes it was Texas or Arizona, almost always in the south.
Alexis collected her thoughts after she could no longer stall by downing her water bottle.
¡°The Costume Game¡ for those who aren¡¯t aware is a dangerous counterculture of psychics who engage in combat and crime. It is an issue that would mostly affect urban areas. A town like Hermon¡ It isn¡¯t big enough for something like that to take place.¡±
She hated playing into the stereotype of ¡®crime-riddled big cities¡¯, but she knew this crowd, of all crowds, would probably accept it uncritically. What she wanted to do was dismiss the notion of it outright. But¡ She couldn¡¯t.
If I even slightly embarrass Chief Sobol in a public setting he could ruin my life.
¡°What about in Midport? Couldn¡¯t it be possible for costumed psychics to come in because Hermon would be an easier mark?¡± Asked Officer Clark. She wished he didn¡¯t ask though.
She couldn¡¯t look at Selector Goodman. She was more than a little afraid he would be shaking his head to say no, because she wasn¡¯t sure she could defend that position. The idea was ridiculous, one of the premises of the question already assumed that Midport had people actively playing the Costume Game.
It was ridiculous, but this was Hermon. She knew that anytime there was a car theft or a break-in people blamed Midport. Even though Midport was one of the safest cities in New England.
¡°I suppose¡ Yeah. It could be¡ Possible.¡± She finally sputtered. Her stomach dropped with every word.
¡°Then we should be prepared.¡± Chief Sobol said. It wasn¡¯t even a question, just a statement of fact. All the cops were nodding at his words. Including the supposedly caring School Resource Officer Santiago.
Fucking bootlickers.
But private rebellious thoughts didn¡¯t make her feel any better. All it did was cement in her mind a simple fact. That she wasn¡¯t really better than any of them.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The q&a wrapped up not long after that. Selector Goodman was already making his way to the room again. When he got to her, he put a hand on her shoulder.
¡°Seriously great job. I really think you did some good here.¡± He said.
¡°Thanks, yeah.¡± Alexis replied. But her heart really wasn¡¯t in it. She couldn¡¯t possibly see what about today had been good.
¡°I know it isn¡¯t glamorous but this is how we make change. I¡¯ll be sure to let Jessica and everyone on the Commission know how well you did during the next meeting.¡± Goodman said.
At least I have some job security for a while then. She already had job security, that¡¯s what a union contract is for, but thinking of this as in some way getting her more of it at least pleased her.
Selector Goodman left to talk to Chief Sobol and his brother. All of the cops in the HPD were chatting, and Alexis really didn¡¯t want to stay longer than she had to. She was about to sneak off when Selectman Sobol broke off from his conversation and approached her.
¡°Hope you aren¡¯t leaving so soon.¡± Said Selectman Sobol. She felt a little embarrassed at being called out.
¡°Sorry this ran a little long and I had a phone call I am supposed to make soon.¡± She lied. I wish I could say ¡®Sorry I want to go home and watch anime¡¯, but that isn¡¯t really socially acceptable in politics.
Even though she very much reached her social limit halfway through the presentation.
¡°Then I won¡¯t keep you long. I wanted to apologize on Borris¡¯s behalf for putting you on the spot. He can be a bit of a meathead.¡± Selectman Sobol said. ¡®Bit of a meat head¡¯ is such a nice way of saying ¡®my brother is an ice-chewing sociopath¡¯.
Literally everyone she worked with had heard stories about what he was like when he was angry.
¡°If you haven¡¯t figured it out, the only reason he agreed to the training is because he wants more information about how to deal with the Costume Game problem.¡± Selectman Sobol continued.
Nevermind the fact that to my knowledge there is no ¡®Costume Game problem¡¯.
All this just served to confirm what Alexis had already started to suspect. The Chief needed Alexis to admit to the possibility of the Costume Game becoming an issue in Harmon.
Now all he needed was some official report or study ¡®proving¡¯ the risk, either from the Hermon Telekinetic Affairs Commission, the Midport PD, or any other institution he could strong-arm if no one else gave him what he wanted. Alexis¡¯s words had only given him license to ask for it.
Whatever he got as the result could then be used as leverage. For what, Alexis could only guess. A specialized task force, a bigger budget, martial law? Who knew, but this was how he was known to operate.
Still, how did he get so hung up on it in the first place?
As if to answer her thoughts, Sobol continued. ¡°What you probably don¡¯t know is that for Borris and myself, we have a bit more of a personal connection to the issue. Preventing the Costume Game from coming to Harmon helps give him an outlet for it.¡±
Alexis had been nodding during this conversation, but she couldn''t help but let her eyes go a bit wide.
A personal connection? What kind? And what does he mean they both have a connection to it? Did they know a victim of the Costume Game or someone actually involved in it? Both the brothers were outside the age range to be able to have manifested talents, with Selectman Sobol just barely making the cut. Maybe it involves a relative of theirs? Still no matter what the situation is¡ Not sure if it is better or worse that the Herman Chief of Police will be launching a crusade for personal reasons instead of political ones.
All she could utter at that was ¡°I had no idea¡±.
¡°Oh no need for concern. It is just that we have someone we are worried might get mixed up in it someday if he isn¡¯t careful.¡± Based on his tone she had to assume it wasn¡¯t too big a deal whatever it was. If it is only a minor thing, Chief Sobol blowing it out of proportion was definitely in character for him.
¡°Anyway back to why I held you up. I wanted to thank you for the very informative session. I also had a quick proposal if you have another minute?¡±
Shoot, I did tell him I had a call. Still wonder where he is going with this¡
¡°Sure, they were actually supposed to call me so they are probably running late themselves.¡± I lied.
¡°Oh good, I still won¡¯t take up too much of your time. See I am a part of a few different civic organizations. And what I wanted to ask about it is if the Telekinetic Affairs Commission could send you to speak to the Harmon Merchants¡¯ Association. Some of the stuff you cover I could see being pretty useful, especially to any of the small businesses that use psychic labor. If it is possible I could tell the HMA¡¯s president to reach out?¡±
Oh so he just wants to bring in a guest speaker? I guess that makes sense.
¡°Yeah, that actually sounds great. This presentation is actually modified from one that is actually a lot more pertinent to businesses so I wouldn¡¯t even need to prepare all that much new content. Get in touch with my boss and we can see about setting something up.¡± Honestly, presenting to any group is gonna be a cakewalk compared to the HPD.
They exchanged a few more pleasantries before Alexis excused herself. She couldn¡¯t get home fast enough to decompress and relax.
Though, she couldn¡¯t help it when the whole social ordeal didn¡¯t immediately leave her mind.
Ch 7. Another Boring Meeting
21:03. Monday, November 20th, 2023 St. Patrick¡¯s Cemetery, Midport.
Poltergeist considered herself the strongest psychic in Midport, and perhaps even one of the strongest psychics in the state. Her power, the eponymous
was a generalist telekinetic power. It worked on mostly anything, it could even move a car, and it could even block bullets. She had learned that the fun way. The one downside to that was really hard to control. But that hadn¡¯t been an issue for long.
She had employed Anchor Theory, Perception Training, and even experimented with Rampage Development (that was certainly a mess that was hard to clean up).
Now, she had mastered getting her talent to follow her will. She may not be able to use it for tasks that require fine motor skills, but she could at least be sure she could pick something up without crushing it.
Now, she was the badass leader of the Graveyard Bash. A villain organization she started when she was just 16 years old. One that served her unquestioningly.
Now, the Graveyard Bash claimed the entirety of Midport as its territory besides that lameass private school Sherman University. It may not have been total control, but her decrees set the rules for the Costume game here in this fucking city.
But now it was the third Monday of the month, and that meant it was time for their monthly meeting.
Fuck, when did this shit become so routine?
When they first formed, the Graveyard Bash didn¡¯t have a set meeting time. They just fucking met at the local cemetery whenever Poltergeist had crazy plan she had come up with, which at first was every fucking night. That was back before Poltergeist had learned the difference between cemetery and graveyard. When she picked the name she didn¡¯t realize that a church needed to be connected to be called a graveyard. Still it stuck and it was at least a bit more catchy.
Her life back then was unsustainable though and, eventually, as people wanted to get involved with other stuff, there wasn¡¯t time in the schedule for raiding convenience stores, teepeeing houses, and all their usual hijinks.
Eventually they switched to weekly meetings, now it was monthly. Most of the original group left, some for college, some because they got busy with work, some moved. But the most painful one to Poltergeist, some just got bored. It was mostly the ghouls who left. The non-powered underlings. But it included some of her generals too. But even the generals who were left weren¡¯t even training their fucking powers anymore!
This meeting was only her, Frankenstein, Zombie, and two Ghouls (numbers 4 and 6). Mummy is late as fucking always!
Granted she could be late occasionally, which was probably worse since she was supposed to be running the meetings but it didn¡¯t hypocrisy had never stopped her being mad before though.
When her general (and ex boyfriend), Mummy finally showed up. They began the meeting in earnest.
¡°Alright let¡¯s kick this shit off.¡± Poltergeist said. ¡°Zombie, what do we want to start with, talking about the haunted house or cape updates? We¡¯ll leave personal shit for the end.¡± There was never any agenda.
Zombie was Poltergeist¡¯s chief of staff and the only general without a power. Unless you count being the only member of Graveyard Bash with their shit together as a power. She got her role because it was decided that the Ghouls needed a leader and she was the most qualified.
Poltergeist used to hate her know-it-all attitude when they were in highschool, then briefly had a crush on her when Zombie came out as bi, but that was when Poltergeist was still dating Mummy. The whole situation was a disaster.
Now, she was just jealous of Zombie. She had a well paying job working at Midport¡¯s very own Sherman University as some sort of administrator. Still, she found time to help run Graveyard Bash. Poltergeist never got why she stuck around.
¡°Let¡¯s start with the last Haunted House. We raised 157 dollars of profits which was already sent to Bury Humanely.¡±
Bury Humanely was a charity that promotes sustainable burial and funeral practices. The haunted house itself came from the fact that years of playing pranks on the local community had led Poltergeist to realize their powers made them really good at scaring people. A few years back they started putting them on as a way of building a better relationship with the community. It was maybe the single thing in her life that brought Poltergeist true joy.
Is that why I am depressed? Because October''s already over? Maybe I just have seasonal affective disorder.
¡°In addition, we had a potential recruit who was interested in enlisting. If we accept them they will become Ghoul 9.¡±
Recruiting Ghouls was always a difficult undertaking. Who would willingly sign up to be bottom of the food chain? The original crew only had 5 ghouls. All of those fuckers left besides Ghoul 4, who was the most loyal, and Ghoul 0, who was promoted to Zombie. Ghoul 5 joined with Frankenstein because he was his cousin but eventually moved. Ghoul 6 mostly stayed because he got along with Mummy and Ghoul 4. Every Ghoul or Ghoul candidate after 6 usually would join and flake after a while.
Either it was because they weren¡¯t doing enough anymore or they were too intense. They could never win.
¡°Do we even have any uniforms left?¡± Asked Frankenstein.
Frankenstein was the youngest in the group. He joined as a freshman when Poltergeist was a senior. He still went part-time at a community college and worked as a bouncer at a nightclub. His powers made that easier since it included vanilla super strength. It also meant he was the only one here whose Talent was registered.
That had been a fight, but it was agreed that as long as he only registered as someone with extra strength, he could play up the other part of his power for the supervillain shit. It helped that his super strength didn¡¯t make him all that much stronger than your average athlete so he got away with having a lower danger level then he probably deserved.
It was the perfect plan. Which he ruined when he registered his talent as like a dumbass.
No law enforcement seemed to care to make the connection however.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°Didn¡¯t G2 make the original uniforms with Mummy?¡± Asked Ghoul 4.
¡°Yes, but it was mostly Ghoul 2 since Mummy never learned to sew.¡± Replied Zombie.
¡°Fuck you, zom-bitch! I can do it. Not gonna front the cost though.¡± Interjected Mummy.
Mummy actually could sew. Really it was just that Ghoul 2 had a sewing machine which they now no longer had access to.
Mummy had the power to control gauze, which didn¡¯t help him make costumes for anybody but himself but he did have a surprisingly good eye for design. Mummy and her met when they were both stage crew for the theater club, he was in the wardrobe department and she was a stage hand.
Mummy originally had dreams of working in fashion, and wanted to own his own clothing line. Instead he works at a clothing store, which one depended on the month since he would usually quit after a while to work somewhere else.
¡°Fine, but let¡¯s just see if this new person is even worth joining before we shill out for a uniform. Zombie, you handle the interview and we¡¯ll talk about it next month.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°Okay. It will be done.¡± Zombie said with a mock bow. For all her competence got her, Zombie really did seem to like playing the assistant.
¡°Alright, before I move on, I want to say some good shit to everyone. I¡¯ll try not to take forever though. Is that cool?¡± Poltergeist said. Everyone nodded.
¡°Okay first off, good work manning the doors Frankenstein. Nobody got too rowdy that night, so good work.¡± Fuck, the word rowdy makes me sound so old. When did I get like this?
¡°Alright next, Ghoul 4 good performance all around. Your acting was top notch. Next Mummy and Ghoul 6, good job on the decorations and shit. It really looked, like, actually professional. You really got the vision. As always Zombie, thanks for helping with getting people to volunteer and stuff. And also, great location. You and mummy did a good job promoting it too.¡±
Fuck none of this sounds like how a super villain should sound. 16 year old me would be so disappointed.
¡°I think we all did a really good job. It was definitely better than the previous years.¡± Said Ghoul 6.
¡°Definitely.¡± Said Frankenstein.
¡°Okay, that is it for patting ourselves on the fucking back. Territory updates.¡± Said Poltergeist.
¡°There is a new group forming in SU. Some kind of political group.¡± College groups tended to pop up every year or so. It was a complete fucking grabbag on theme, quality, or propensity for violence. It was why trying to hold sway over the college was completely pointless. Just let the rich kids fight each other, that was her policy.
¡°Like an eco-warrior thing or something else?¡± Asked Mummy. For some reason that was always the most common. Hell, people said the Graveyard Bash dipped into that model a little bit with their charity fundraising. That was just bullshit though because really all Poltergeist wanted was a charity that fit their theme rather than actually fighting the pollution of the funeral industry. Though she probably cared a lot more than she might pretend to.
¡°No, according to the latest reports in the administration they are a breakaway from the Worker Activist Alliance-Youth Division. They are a non-costumed organization that draws on various left-wing philosophies. Apparently there was some sort of failed takeover which led to five people leaving to start their own group.¡± Only five?
¡°If they broke off from a non-costumed group why would we think this group would want to participate in the costume life?¡± Asked Frankenstein.
¡°Franky we have gone over this a few different times now. Everyone is playing the game whether they like it or not.¡± Answered Mummy, unhelpfully.
¡°Even though there is occasional bleed through of capes and cowls into regular life, that really is not sufficient evidence for your belief that the costume game permeates every level of our society. If that was the case, I would have to update the group on every club and organization on campus. I doubt the chess club really merits that level of concern.¡± Zombie argued.
¡°Whatever Zom-bimbo.¡± Mummy grumbled. This early into a meeting and he has already used both of his insults. Gonna be a long night, isn¡¯t it?
¡°To answer your question Frankenstein, the reason this off shoot merits our concern is because of the unconventional nature of the split. Their breakaway¡¯s leader is a neo-pasadist.¡±
The word hung in the air for a second. Then another second. A third.
¡°I¡¯ll bite, what the hell does that mean?¡± Asked Ghoul 4. Good ol¡¯ reliable Ghoul 4.
¡°I am glad you asked. This is a new ideology on the rise since the birth of psychics. Originally a branch of communist thought which incorporates ufology and other new age thought, neo-posadism encompasses all sorts of left wing conspiracy theories.¡±
¡°How much of that was from Wikipedia?¡± Poltergeist asked.
¡°Read the whole article on the walk over here!¡± Zombie bragged. Everyone gave her a few chuckles, Mummy just rolled his eyes.
¡°Okay, well thanks for the update. We¡¯ll be sure to keep an eye out for anyone abducting the local cows.¡± Poltergeist said. ¡°Any other updates?¡±
¡°Of course, Commander Poltergeist. We have been challenged by the quote unquote ¡®hero¡¯, the Midport Messenger.¡±
¡°Obsessenger is back for another round of eating pavement, huh?¡±
¡°Another round implies someone other than Poltergeist has ever beaten him. Unless you have news you would like to share?¡± said Zombie.
¡°Throwing stones from your glass house must be extra tough when you don¡¯t have psychic powers. Remind me, how many fights have you won in the name of the organization? Besides, what is the point in having an almighty, all-powerful leader if we all don¡¯t get to share in the credit.¡± Said Mummy.
¡°That may be the case, but you know we still all need to be pulling our weight. Especially us generals.¡± Said Frankenstein, flexing a small grin. Though he was only in the top three of their organization, he was the most confident in his regular training.
¡°I am ending this discussion. Zombie, when is the challenge scheduled for?¡± Asked Poltergeist. Conversations like this could last a while if you let them.
¡°10 PM Madam Poltergeist.¡± Answered Zombie.
¡°For nearly derailing our conversation, Mummy, you are gonna take on the challenge on our behalf.¡±
That was her cool evil boss for a villainous organization reason, but the real reason was a lot simpler. On the off chance that she got hurt in the fight, even as low as that chance was, Poltergeist currently didn¡¯t have any health insurance. She had recently gotten kicked off her parent¡¯s plan on her 26th birthday and her job did not offer any. It was high-key stressing her out.
It is so unfair. To be brought so low because of the fucked up US healthcare system.
¡°Zombie was derailing too, why doesn¡¯t she ever have to fight?¡±
Because she doesn¡¯t have powers nimrod. Of course though, she has the best insurance of any of us from the university.
¡°Even the way ya ask seems built to antagonize her. Kinda proving Poltergeist¡¯s point, aren¡¯tcha?¡± Asked Frankenstein.
¡°Mummy, in all seriousness, are you up to this task?¡± Tone-wise she tried to mix in the do not fail me with some you up for this shit? And hopefully got the message across without needing to break her persona.
¡°Oh don¡¯t you start worrying about me. I¡¯ll do it. And I¡¯ll kick errand boy¡¯s ass.¡± Mummy responded.
Welp, guess he is good. Hopefully Messenger can afford medical bills.
"Then good, because we have such sights to show him!" Poltergeist declared.
Ch 8. A Fair Loss
12:45. Sunday, November 19th, 2023. Rocket Cafe on Main Street, Midport.
¡°Midport is hell.¡± Zeke said.
At the local arcade, Zeke and his friend Sean were playing Skate Racing Turbo. A two player racing game starring brightly colored riderless skateboards with fireworks taped on top. The game was controlled by rapidly pressing one of three buttons which corresponded to three different fireworks rigged to the skateboard.
The middle firework was the biggest and controlled the acceleration of the skateboard. Rapidly pressing the middle button would make the board go faster but be harder to steer. The left and right fireworks were controlled by the left and right buttons.
¡°How many times do I have to say this, it isn¡¯t hell? It¡¯s safer than your average gentrified college town.¡± Sean replied. He was playing as a blue metallic skateboard with arrows etched onto the top and golden fireworks soldered on like they were thrusters on a spaceship.
¡°Good downtown, movie theater walkable from some nice restaurants.¡± Sean continued. ¡°Literally in what world does hell have an actual functional arcade?¡±
Rocket¡¯s Cafe wasn¡¯t a traditional arcade, but was indeed functional. It was a relatively cramped space with only three machines, a tv, two tables and a couch. All the games were free but you had to pay by the hour. Also no outside food or drinks. It seemed to rely mostly on foot traffic and the regular video game tournaments it hosted to make a profit.
Zeke had been coming here with Sean since they were still being driven by their mom¡¯s back in middle school.
¡°Yeah sure, so nice. So great. That is why it is under the thumb of a psycho wannabe villainess.¡± Said Zeke. He was playing as an orange skateboard with black flames etched onto it. The duct tape on its fireworks were stylized to resemble caution tape.
¡°Didn¡¯t her group just raise a bunch of money for charity? I mean when they first came on the scene they were pretty bad if you had like, i dunno, a package store or a gas station since they used to get into all kinda of BS. But that was like a bajillion years ago.¡±
Sean¡¯s car hit a ramp, and he started to press on all three buttons at once to extend his air time, when he landed he got a boost in speed and ten ¡°kewl poyntz¡± according to the in-game announcer.
¡°I¡¯m not mad that they used to be a bunch of losers who would smash mailboxes. I¡¯m ticked because they run this town and nobody seems to care because they don¡¯t bother anyone.¡±
His skateboard hit the same ramp, but rather than hit all three buttons, Zeke tried to hit just the left and middle buttons and his board started to spin. He couldn¡¯t stick the landing though and he got a ¡°luzer penalty¡±. Whoever made this dumb game was trying way too hard.
¡°Dude, Zeke, that is like a total contradiction. People don¡¯t care about them because they don¡¯t actually run this place. If you don¡¯t mess with them they are completely harmless. It isn¡¯t like they ran the cops out of town.¡±
Sean almost at the finish line. Zeke was mashing the accelerate button as much as he could to try to make up the difference.
¡°Yeah harmless, tell that to all of the people they beat up who challenge them. Betcha they¡¯d beg to differ.¡±
Zeke landed on an item causing fire to pour out from the fireworks on top of the skateboard. He was catching up.
¡°Oh my god dude, that is like getting mad that mike tyson just punched someone in the face during a boxing match. They have, like, rules and shit.¡±
Zeke¡¯s item wasn¡¯t enough. Sean crossed the finish line with Zeke trailing him. He was so close and if he had landed his spin on the ramp earlier he probably would have won.
¡°Whatever, I am done with this game. Let¡¯s do something else.¡±
¡°Sure, I¡¯m always game for games, hit me with the good shit.¡±
¡°Alright but let me grab some water first.¡±
¡°Well we might as well grab some food if we are gonna take a break.¡±
There was another kid behind them who they let have a turn on the machine. Zeke bought some overpriced water, a few bags of chips, and some pastries while Sean grabbed one of the two tables.
¡°You know, if you hate the Graveyard Bashers so much why not call up those World Breakers you are always fangirling over and ask them to beat them up for you.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t you think I have tried that! I sent them so many emails and even called them up on the phone. The lady I spoke with on the phone said that they don¡¯t take down small-time villains unless there is a plan in place for the ensuing power vacuum. When I said that our local heroes could probably take care of it, you will never guess what she said to me.¡± Zeke ranted.
¡°If the city already has heroes then why don¡¯t you ask them to defeat the villains.¡± Sean said.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
¡°Whatever, lucky guess.¡± Zeke said, dismissively.
Zeke could feel his ears turn red just thinking about the way the lady treated him like some kid. He was almost eighteen!
¡°You know that does bring up a good point.¡± Sean said.
¡°Yeah, what¡¯s that?¡± Zeke said.
¡°Doesn¡¯t it seem that Poltergeist¡¯s crew keeps a lot of the more dangerous small fry away from Midport? Heck I bet even the dinky towns in the suburbs are pretty thankful for having her always send them so far away. I really don¡¯t think someone like Juggler or Messenger could really manage that.¡± Sean said.
¡°That isn¡¯t fair, the witch is an effing freak! She is way stronger than she has any right to be. And lately she doesn¡¯t even fight, she just sends out her subordinates and they manage just fine taking on challenges and they are a lot weaker than her.¡±
The costume game had a few different permutations. The lowest stakes one being called Monster of the Week. A hero would declare themselves protector of a territory and other factions could challenge them. It benefited both parties because both sides got to practice using their powers which was a real boon for those who had combat-oriented talents.
What Graveyard Bash had settled into after they stopped bothering to cause mayhem was a mockery of that system. She could beat anyone to a pulp so nobody but the two local heroes ever bothered to challenge them. But by not acting like a villain and going full criminal they didn¡¯t have to bother with law enforcement. It is just lazy.
If Poltergeist was a hero she could offer people assurance but instead they offered half-assed ¡®charity¡¯ work. And if you disagreed with how they operated they would just say to challenge them knowing full well that if Poltergeist went all out you couldn¡¯t win.
This was Poltergeist¡¯s kingdom and if you wanted to take it from her, you could do so at a set time and place.
The one good part of the poorly thought out rules they set was that you didn¡¯t have to beat Poltergeist if she sent out one of her lieutenants, the fight is always an all or nothing thing.
¡°Okay so Poltergeist is some sort of demi-god. But here is an interesting question. Who is stronger, Messenger and Juggler or Mummy and Frankenstein?¡± Sean asked.
¡°Ugh, you are such a power scaling nerd.¡± Zeke responded.
¡°You are one to talk.¡± Sean said. Zeke preferred to think of it as ¡®community threat analysis¡¯ for the day in which Graveyard Bash falls.
¡°The obvious answer is it depends on the matchup. Juggler is an effing psycho and his talent would let him rip apart Mummy¡¯s bandages. And Frankenstein would be a bad matchup for any slow speedster since he has super strength and that weird electricity thing which makes no sense to me.¡± Zeke said.
Juggler could control chainsaws and they didn¡¯t need to have electricity for them to run. He had a habit of laughing anytime he launched them in the air. Honestly his whole vibe would really make more sense for a villain.
¡°I think I heard that Frankenstein is just a B- internalist and that he has control over the electricity in his body. The super strength is just a result of that.¡± Sean said. Zeke groaned at the grading system.
¡°People online can¡¯t decide if the super strength is part of the electricity thing, like he is shocking his muscles somehow to be extra strong somehow, or if it is just a branch off from the original talent since.¡± Sean continued.
Zeke didn¡¯t really understand how ¡®shocking his muscles¡¯ was supposed to make him stronger but figured it was just a branch off. It wasn¡¯t unheard of for self-targeting telekinetics--or ¡®internalists¡¯ to the people like Sean who preferred the archetype system to call them--to learn to control other aspects of their body. He would be okay being wrong though about it though since he didn¡¯t see how it made a difference.
¡°You know I hate that letter grade BS and archetype classification. Just use Danger Levels, it is literally what the government uses. Like seriously, people who want to theorize about triple S double plus are just talking nonsense, just say they have Danger Level 6. It is way simpler.¡± Zeke pleaded. Sean and him have had this argument a few times before.
¡°Well danger levels don¡¯t cover everything, like people who have really rare automatic triggers tied to their talent¡¯s activation. What about the crazy hat killer!¡± Sean said.
The crazy hat killer or the stupid hat killer was a hypothetical in which someone had the power to stop the heart for anyone only who was wearing a really specific, stupid hat while saying another specific and stupid phrase. Talent¡¯s as a rule couldn¡¯t normally affect human bodies outside of the talent¡¯s user, but pure automatic talents were sometimes the exception.
All danger levels measure is how much damage their talent would do if it went rampage, or if they have an automatic type if it is easy to trigger. Because of that the crazy hat killer would theoretically get a low danger level even if it was deadly.
¡°That is just internet nonsense, there isn¡¯t even an example of someone having a talent like that people can point to.¡± Zeke said.
¡°Well Danger Levels are just some random state bureaucrat''s educated guess that you only learn if you bother to register.¡± Sean said.
¡°Everyone should register.¡± Zeke scolded.
¡°But not everyone does, and you only need to if you use your talent for work.¡± Sean said.
¡°That isn¡¯t the point, you register because then you get access to training so you don¡¯t trigger a rampage.¡± Zeke said.
¡°Don¡¯t your all too great World Breakers have trainings like that? Why not just rely on them?¡± Sean asked.
It was true that the World Breakers did offer that to heroes, and they even offered advanced trainings and legal protection if one¡¯s talent did go on a rampage. The real answer to why people shouldn¡¯t just rely on them however was that they cost a lot of money. And since a lot of kids awaken their talents while still in highschool it wouldn¡¯t be fair to have them cough up the cash.
¡°There is one thing that the state¡¯s training offers that the World Breakers don¡¯t.¡± Zeke said.
¡°Oh yeah? What¡¯s that?¡± Sean asked, incredulously.
¡°You get to do your civic duty!¡± Zeke declared.
¡°Ugh! You are such a goodie two shoes!!¡± Sean said. Zeke laughed.
¡°Of course I am.¡± Zeke said with a smile. He put his hands on his hips in a mock good guy pose. ¡°What kind of hero would the Midport Messenger be if he wasn¡¯t?¡±
Ch 9. A Fair Challenge
Two years ago, Zeke was at the table eating breakfast. A bowl of raisin cereal with vanilla oat milk. He was talking to his dad about school. Zeke was a freshman and he was gonna have gym class that day, and he was nervous. They were doing the mile run.
Like his dad, Zeke was on the husky side and in middle school he still remembered when the other kids made fun of him for walking the whole mile. He wanted desperately to be like all the kids who were competing for who would have the fastest time.
That was when his dad gave him advice, he didn¡¯t need to compete with the other kids, he just needed a goal for himself and he could focus on that.
¡°I think when I was your age, the low end average for a boy was what? 6 minutes?¡± He had said. Zeke nodded.
¡°Okay then how about this, we make it a game. If you agree to try your hardest to make that time, I¡¯ll take you and your friend Sean out to celebrate. That sound fun?¡±
Zeke nodded, more excitedly that time. He did the math, if he could hit 10 miles per hour for as long as he could he could make that time.
He was gonna make his dad proud.
When the time came he loaded up a speedometer app and was ready to go. For the first two minutes he was able to do it, but it wasn¡¯t long after that he started to slow down. He wished desperately that he could keep going, that he could make the time. He didn¡¯t want to end up just like he did in middle school.
That was when it happened. His talent awakened. His feet started to float ever so slightly off the ground and could feel his body moving on its own. His speedometer told him he was hitting exactly 10 mph, with not a hint of fluctuation.
With his new talent, he made it the rest of the mile, shutting it off as he got closer so no one would see. His final time was just over six minutes.
His dad was so proud he took him and Sean to celebrate that night. That night was the happiest he had ever been, and it was then and there he decided to use his powers to make sure everyone would feel exactly the way he did that night. And that he would stop any bully that would get in his way.
13:04. Sunday, November 19th, 2023. Rocket Cafe, Midport.
Zeke and Sean had finished their snacks. They both had another 20 minutes left in their time at the arcade before they had to pay for another hour. Zeke would be eating a bit too much into his allowance if he did though spring for it.
¡°Alright, we probably have time for one game.¡± Sean said.
¡°Yeah I was just thinking that, but since we don¡¯t have a lot of time, wanna make it interesting?¡± Zeke offered.
¡°You seriously need to get that gambling streak in check.¡± Sean asked Zeke.
¡°Game¡¯s are more fun with some stakes! Besides, I need your help with something.¡± Zeke responded.
¡°Why don¡¯t you just ask me then? I¡¯m your friend, not some fairytale creature who you have to trick in order to help you.¡± Sean said.
¡°You wouldn¡¯t help if you knew what it was for.¡± Zeke said.
¡°Well then why the heck would I do it as part of a bet!¡± Sean said.
¡°Fine, I wanted to be more mysterious but I want to challenge Graveyard Bash and I need a second.¡± Zeke said.
¡°A second to like, think about it or¡¡± Sean said.
¡°Ha ha, no like a second as in dueling things. It is part of their bs code. Honestly it is major nerd garbage! Like you remember in US history they talked about Hamilton and Burr, it is some weird stuff like that.¡± Zeke said.
¡°Would that be standard if this was a normal monster of the week?¡± Sean said.
¡°Nope, another Graveyard Bash original.¡± Zeke did a mock spinning flourish in the air with his finger. ¡°Basically each side gets a witness for when Poltergeist kick¡¯s my butt again.¡±
¡°Ugh, why do you have to wrap me up in your hero BS more. Can¡¯t you ask Juggler?¡± Sean whined. Zeke thought it was unfair, since the totality of his involvement was that he was the only one who knew his identity and that he helped him with his costume.
¡°I really don¡¯t know juggler like that, and frankly the more I learn about him the more creeped out I get. I don¡¯t even think juggler has, like, a house or a family, I think he just does the hero stuff full time.¡± Zeke explained. Also the last time he was his second, Juggler laughed at Zeke when Poltergeist picked him up by his clothes and tossed him onto a car. Though Juggler might¡¯ve laughed regardless of the outcome. Absolute psycho.
¡°Fine, but what do i get if i win?¡± Sean asked.
¡°Hmm¡¡± Zeke considered what he had that Sean wanted. ¡°I could¡ have Messenger give you a selfie? He could write your recommendation letter for college?¡±
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
¡°Dude, Messenger is some two-bit vigilante, like any college would give a hoot about what he has to say.¡± Sean said.
Moments like this made Zeke wish he had cool contacts in the World Breakers, or that he was a full on member. He couldn¡¯t afford the entry level fee.
¡°I could carry you to school?¡± Zeke offered. His talent didn¡¯t have a carrying capacity that he could tell.
¡°Ew no, what if someone saw us like that! Don¡¯t you have masculine pride?¡± Sean said
¡°Fine, fine, yeah people would think you were gay with Messenger.¡± Zeke said, waving off his friend. Just then he had it!
¡°I could get Emily to take you to prom!¡± He declared.
Sean¡¯s face immediately turned red. Sean¡¯s crush on Zeke¡¯s sister dated for as long as he could remember. She was two years older than them both, and currently attending Sherman University here in Midport thanks to a full scholarship including room and board.
¡°She¡ She wouldn¡¯t¡¡± Sean stammered.
¡°She absolutely would if her sweet baby brother asked her too! C¡¯mon, you and I both know your ¡®masculine pride¡¯ can stand a pity date if it means getting the girl of your dreams!¡± Zeke said. It was weird his friend had a crush on his sister, but if he was gonna he should at least get something out of the situation. I¡¯d be lying if that didn¡¯t mean I wasn¡¯t rooting for my best bro to still win against all the odds. So really I win either way.
¡°Fine! But don¡¯t tell her it is because I am desperate, or make it weird. Just like, I dunno, say it was because my date canceled on me at the last minute or something.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t see how a date canceling on you makes you look any better but sure. Let¡¯s hurry before our time runs out, I can¡¯t afford another hour here.¡±
Tronic Fighter was a weird game. It starred a cast of animatronic mascots, each with a different animal theme. It started off as a horror game franchise but it had been spun off into a series of games.
Horror getting turned into a lazy shell of itself? Honestly reminds me of Graveyard Bash.
Tronic Fighter was the newest arcade game at Rocket¡¯s, and was also its most high-tech. The player controlled their character with boxing gloves that were plugged into the console. You could punch, block, and do a special attack by pressing a button inside the glove. The characters were all the same but did have different special attacks.
The lore of the games was pretty out there and it got more convoluted with each installment the multi-media juggernaut. The idea was that a theme park was covering up a series of murders because they didn¡¯t want anyone to be declared dead on their premises. Based on some weird creepy-but-true fact the author heard about a real theme park with some obvious liberties taken.
One of liberties being that the method that they used to hide the bodies was to cook them into the food they serve guests. But the souls of the victims started to possess the animatronics, and roam the park at night. From there it just continued to devolve into being about how the murders were actually experiments and that the real killer kept changing.
Zeke was playing as Saul Scarab. Saul was a beetle with boxing gloves and shorts. In the lore of the games the soul possessing him was a costume designer that many fans thought was the real killer, but maybe was actually someone else entirely? Zeke didn¡¯t really follow the fan discussion that closely but Sean could probably say. Zeke did know that Saul did have some connection to the plot whatever it was.
Sean was playing Paul Pidgeon. An anthropomorphic pigeon with a messenger bag, pilot hat and goggles. In the lore of the game he wasn¡¯t too important in the murder plot but his brother, Perry Penguin, was. To be clear, their souls were brothers but also the characters of the animatronics they were also brothers. It¡¯s a weird franchise.
After they selected their characters it was time for the game to start.
Zeke launched a right jab while pressing the special attack button. Saul Scarab¡¯s gloved fist sprang out from his wrist like one of those extendo arms right into the other character¡¯s chest. This shaved off the last bit of health Zeke needed, so he finished off his opponent with an uppercut straight into Paul Pidgeon¡¯s jaw. This caused the animatronic bird¡¯s neck to overextend like some sort of toy robot from the 60¡¯s.
¡°Winner winner chicken dinner!¡± Zeke shouted!
¡°Ugh no fair! You only won because I tripped during the second round. If that hadn¡¯t happened it would be that beetle¡¯s jerk whose head would be in the air!¡± Whined Sean.
Sean did in fact trip during the second round. It was kind of his own fault, he was too into the game and was bounce stepping like a real boxer. After checking he was okay and hadn¡¯t hurt anything they continued.
The two started to catch their breath. This game takes a lot more out of you than Skate Racing Turbo!
¡°Listen, a deal''s a deal. You gotta be my sidekick now!¡± Zeke¡¯s said.
¡°No, no! That wasn¡¯t the deal, I said I would be your second or whatever, not that I would be your sidekick!¡± Sean continued to whine.
¡°Well what, you gonna show up in a t-shirt and jeans? Let the local villains see your face and ruin my cover?¡± Zeke pointed out.
¡°I¡ I guess I didn¡¯t think of that. But can you at least call me something cooler like your ward or assistant?¡± Sean asked.
¡°You think assistant sounds cooler than sidekick?¡± Zeke said.
¡°Or, shoot. What is that called? That the mafia people say¡ Associate!¡± Sean declared.
¡°Fine you want to be my associate? Sure. But we gotta hurry and start working on your costume since the challenge is for Monday!¡± Zeke said.
¡°Wait you already issued the challenge? What the heck was your plan if I had said no?¡± Sean asked.
¡°Come clean and beg, but thanks to you I get to keep my pride.¡± Zeke said.
¡°Some hero.¡± Sean said.
¡°By the way, I forgot to ask you about something.¡± Sean said as the two started to make the journey back over to Zeke¡¯s apartment to work on Sean¡¯s new costume.
¡°Go for it, a sidekick has to be informed after all.¡± Zeke teased.
¡°Associate!¡± Sean said, punching Zeke in the arm. ¡°Anyway, when we were talking about who would win a fight, you said Messenger would be a bad match up with Frankenstein. But you didn¡¯t say if you could take Mummy?¡±
¡°That''s easy. That because there is no way in heck I am not lucky enough to face him." Zeke said, laughing. "Because if I did, I would kick his butt!"
Ch 10. A Fair Fight
22:05. Monday, November 20th, 2023. Forest Clearing in Gazebo Park, Midport.
With Zeke¡¯s talent, it didn¡¯t take too long for him to get to the location the fight was supposed to take place at. He was in his full Messenger uniform, a red leather with white accents on the shoulders, neckline, and on the sides of the torso.
To cover his face, he wore a matching full-face motorcycle helmet with a large face shield to best maintain his peripheral vision. Because the face shield was tinted to obscure his face, it came with an attachable flashlight.
Besides covering up his face, the helmet was also practical since there was a greater than zero chance that he could get a concussion if he ever fell during his talent¡¯s maximum speed. In that same vein his costume also included elbow and knee pads. It helped that he also thought they happened to look cool.
Sean, or calling him by the new sidekick name they picked out, Mailbox, was gonna be running late since he was still biking up the trail. Seriously if he would just let me carry him, this wouldn¡¯t have been an issue. I don¡¯t see why his ¡®masculine pride¡¯ is more important than being on time.
After Messenger had arrived, he could see the two villains who were waiting for him: Poltergeist and Mummy.
Poltergeist wasn¡¯t mannish but she was pretty stout with broad shoulders for a girl. She was wearing her usual accouterments, a black medical mask and a black jacket with gold epaulets.
The jacket looked like something a fancy history general might wear if it was the right size and she buttoned it up properly, which she didn¡¯t. She only buttoned the top button without putting her arms through the sleeves, and it was so big on her it draped her back like a cape.
Meanwhile Mummy was on the taller end, definitely over six feet, and was on the more lanky end.
He wore a black hoodie with the sleeves cut off and sweatpants, with a huge golden ankh around his neck. His face was fully wrapped up in bandages along with his arms. He also had two golden bracelets, presumably to match his necklace.
The bandages weren¡¯t held tight around him, instead they loosely floated, most likely the result of his talent.
Messenger would be lying if two of them didn¡¯t look intimidating.
¡°Where¡¯s your second?¡± Poltergeist asked, sternly.
¡°My ward is running a bit behind. He won¡¯t be long.¡± Messenger said, demoting his friend from ¡®acquaintance¡¯ to ward for being tardy.
¡°Aww, you hear that boss? Our kid hero has got himself a sidekick. They grow up so fast!¡± Mummy fawned condescendingly. The boss in question didn¡¯t seem quite amused at her subordinates teasing but it was hard to tell with how stone faced she always was.
¡°While we wait, have you gone over the rules with them? Need a refresher?¡± Poltergeist asked Messenger, sounding like his dad did during his first day of middle school. Ugh, I don¡¯t know which I hate worse, Mummy¡¯s open disrespect or Poltergeist¡¯s more subtle variety.
¡°That this is fair combat and that I have no reasonable guarantee of safety. Yes, and he agrees to witness these events without interfering.¡± Messenger said.
¡°Not ¡®fair combat¡¯, mutual combat. But the rest of your understanding will suffice.¡± Said Poltergeist.
¡°Great! With that settled we have some time to kill and shoot the shit. So tell me Messy, because I am dying to know, what¡¯s your deal? Bitten by a radioactive mailman? What makes you think you can put us in the ground this time?¡± said Mummy.
The real reason was because he had recently had a breakthrough with his talent, but he sure as heck wasn¡¯t going to say that.
¡°It¡¯s a hero¡¯s job to deliver justice to villains like you.¡± Messenger said, he was proud he snuck in a small delivery pun in there. He was even tempted to strike up his hero pose. Right shoulder facing forward, left hand on his hip with his left elbow bent straight up, while his right hand was flat out in front of him. The moment wasn¡¯t right for it, however. Gotta save that for my win!
Poltergeist scoffed. ¡°I have already demonstrated why that won¡¯t happen anytime soon. What makes you think this time will be any different, dear hero?¡± Poltergeist asked, seeming genuinely curious.
¡°Because a rematch you know you will win again would make your sinister little game that much less fun for you!¡± Messenger declared! What he didn¡¯t declare was that he was already aware that during her last challenge she had sent out Frankenstein.
Poltergeist slowly shook her head. Was she¡ Disappointed?
¡°You disagree? You clearly are getting bored? Why else would you send Frankenstein to fight the Midnight Divers when they challenged you two months ago?¡± Messenger asked.
¡°The boss doesn¡¯t need to explain shit to you dumbass! If anything you should be grateful we even entertain little shits like you while keeping out assholes the divers out of town!¡±
The Midnight Divers were actually vicious. They were a villain duo that went from city to city wreaking havoc, but apparently weren¡¯t strong enough to beat Frankenstein in a one on one fight. Or, seemingly, dangerous enough to put themselves on the federal government¡¯s notice.
Even Messenger had only heard of them when the fight was announced online.
¡°Oh please, you run this messed up monster of the month because you are too lazy to try to do any real villain shit ever since you stopped smashing mailboxes. A federal crime I may add.¡± Messenger said, waving his finger at them. Gotta work in the delivery theme whenever I get my shot!
¡°You want to play the hero so fucking bad that here you are upset we don¡¯t commit enough crimes for your taste! You¡¯re so right, I¡¯ll get right on burning down a few orphanages.¡± Mummy said.
Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
¡°I¡¯m not upset, it¡¯s just clear to me that your superficial attempts at villainy have just left you restless. And all that boredom is gonna lead is to you falling back into old habits. I¡¯m just doing the world a favor by stopping you before it gets to that point.¡± Said Messenger.
Cutting through the tension a bit, Sean showed up.
¡°Sorry I am late!¡± said Messenger''s acquaintance. Come on man, don¡¯t apologize to the villains!
¡°Alright, you ready to begin.¡± Messenger said, trying to make it sound more like a statement than a question.
¡°Born ready, someone¡¯s gotta teach you a lesson in why you don¡¯t lecture Graveyard Bash!¡±
The last time Messenger challenged Graveyard Bash to a fight, he fought Poltergeist. It lasted a total of two seconds. He showed up, gave a speech about how he was gonna deliver them justice, the fight began, Poltergeist picked him up by his clothes and tossed him onto a car.
It was, by far, one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. Made no better by Juggler laughing the whole time.
Since then, he trained. He knew that he wasn¡¯t going to beat Poltergeist anytime soon, even if he spent years practicing with the best of the best. What he needed was a shot, any shot, to use their own rules against them. That shot came when he found out Poltergeist wasn¡¯t taking on fights anymore.
This was the main reason that Messenger had wanted to challenge Graveyard Bash, and it was thanks to his training that he thought he could finally beat them.
Messenger registered his talent as , at first when it was active he could move at 10 miles per hour. Quickly, he had improved his top speed to be 40 miles an hour. The issue is that he needs to be running for one second before he could get to his top speed before was in its active state. And when he stopped, he would have to start back up again.
This was this weakness he had worked on, so that now, everytime he stopped, he would simply lose speed rather than stop completely. It was a long journey, but he had made it.
Mummy started by launching a volley of his bandages at Messenger. In order for Messenger¡¯s plan to work, he needed to tie up as many of them as possible, so he dodged and weaved throughout the trees.
As he ran throughout the forest, he couldn¡¯t help but remember what the sensation of first felt like. The way his body, floating inches off the ground, would glide forward like an ice skater, with his stride not quite matching his actual speed. When he had to explain it, specifically to Sean, he compared it to when you are walking on one of those moving sidewalks at the airport, with the world moving so much faster than you feel like it should be.
Mummy¡¯s number one weakness was that his bandages were slow, powerful, but slow. As each of them whipped in Messenger¡¯s direction, they left deep gashes on the trees.
¡°Come on Messy, don¡¯t you want to play!¡± Mummy shouted. Crack! ¡°You give us shit for playing games,¡± Smack! ¡°and here you are forcing me to play tag!¡± Crunch! A tree, most likely a rotted one, fell to the ground.
¡°Don¡¯t take the bait Messenger¡¡± He whispered to himself. He couldn¡¯t fall for the bait because he had to stick to his plan.
Messenger had three plans, one for each of his potential opponents. His plan for fighting Mummy was by far the hardest to put together, while also had the highest likelihood of succeeding.
It took scouring the internet for what little footage of him that was out there Mummy, interviewing the one villain who had fought him one on one, and even measuring out different brands of gauze, but Messenger had finally pieced it together.
Mummy had exactly three rolls of gauze on his person at any given time. One he used for a mask, and two for his arms. If Messenger had to guess, he thought maybe could only control those three at any given time.
So Messenger kept running, until he was out of the reach of Mummy¡¯s bandages, and his eyesight. Then he stopped. And hid, turning off the light on his helmet.
Thanks to his talent, he didn¡¯t get tired from running when he used it, but his heart was still beating in the stressful moments before Mummy caught up. He needed to wait only a few seconds before he could hear Mummy still shouting. He readed himself, grabbing a rock from inside his pocket (he didn¡¯t want to leave anything to chance).
He waited agonizingly as Mummy passed his hiding spot a little bit, unclipped his helmet¡¯s light, and threw the rock, and charged.
He was betting everything on this. He needed to distract both of Mummy¡¯s arm bandages if he was gonna have any shot at defeating him. One punch at his full speed.
As expected Mummy immediately launched one of his arm bandages toward the rock¡¯s location. But he knew that would be enough. As soon as Mummy realized he wasn¡¯t in that direction, he would be listening for his real location. The moment Messenger¡¯s talent activated, he then turned on the flashlight and threw that at Mummy too.
The plan was simple, in the moments before activated, he would be running on real ground, Mummy would hear him charging at him directly. The flashlight would help sell that illusion. But the simple fact is that when was active, Mummy wouldn¡¯t be able to hear his footsteps because his talents caused him to float slightly above the ground.
As predicted, Mummy launched his other bandage straight forward, while Messenger switched directions to come at him from the side.
As for the third bandage? This was where the interview he had was vital. Even if it meant getting help from a villain. Mummy couldn¡¯t take it off, it was the only thing covering his face. And the villain Messenger talked to had made sure to constantly stress, no villain would willingly unmask themselves because that was the same as admitting defeat.
Everything Messenger had worked toward was leading up to this moment as he began to flank Mummy. It was an all or nothing strategy that he was going to use to finally beat his town¡¯s villains. After he defeated Mummy, even if she could technically kick Messenger¡¯s but, by their own rules Poltergeist and her crew would be required to hang up their cowls.
There was just one thing he didn¡¯t account for. Not having his helmet¡¯s light meant he couldn¡¯t actually see the branch in his way before it tripped him.
It turned out, Mummy had a technique for close quarters combat that Messenger was not aware of, which was that he could use his bandages while they were still wrapped around his arms to punch very, very, hard.
So Mummy was more than comfortable jumping on top of Messenger the moment he had fallen to the forest floor to wail on the hero.
¡°You.¡± Wack. ¡°Think.¡± Wack ¡°You.¡± Wack. ¡°Are so.¡± Wack. ¡°Clever!¡± Slam!
Mummy ranted and raved about how much he hated Messenger¡¯s ¡°bitch tactics¡±, while not letting up. The present became a bit blurry for Messenger at that point.
Messenger cried. Zeke cried. The pain he was feeling was nothing like he had ever felt. Even when he was thrown onto the car by Poltergeist, the wind had been knocked out of him, but he had recovered quickly.
Emotions poured into him at once. His desire to run away, his need for his dad to somehow save him, his fear that Mummy wouldn¡¯t stop until he was dead, his regret for not thinking to just buy a second helmet light, and most of all, his hate. A pure hatred, one that he had never felt as pure as this.
He realized at the very moment that Mummy punched him in the stomach so hard he threw up in his helmet, that every reason he had to hate Graveyard Bash before this moment was bullshit. That he was just finding reasons to hate them so he could feel more like a hero. He knew because he wanted them to pay and he no longer cared how they paid.
Mummy punched his ribs so hard he felt something snap and he wished things he had never wished on anyone before, he hoped they would all be hit by a bus, that they would get cancer, that the government would raid their houses and shoot them when they slept. With his every breath he wished for their torment, and his every scream he prayed.
His final thoughts before darkness took hold of his consciousness was that Mummy would pay for the pain he caused a thousand fold.
Ch 11. Last Date
22:53. Monday, November 20th, 2023. Mag Mell Diner, Midport.
Mag Mell Diner was an institution in Midport. Called M&M¡¯s by the locals, it was an Irish diner founded in the 50¡¯s and covered in chrome as preserved as a fly in amber. Bright red seating and checkerboard patterns could be everywhere. On the walls were black and white pictures of Midport throughout the ages, including pictures of the outside diner itself showing it not having aged a day.
It was supposed to anyway. The inside was definitely looking a little weathered. Areas with a bit of dust that hadn¡¯t been attended to in a while. Laminated menus covered in permanent marker crossing out items that were no longer available and handwritten messages.
The place was in the heart of Fair Hollow, the Irish enclave in Midport. The same area that the park was in, so it hadn¡¯t been much of a walk. Graveyard Bash in general had a good relationship with M&M¡¯s.
Even at the height of their delinquent days, they would come to the diner to hang out still in costume. Ghoul 6 even used to work at the place part-time, and the owners and regular wait staff were probably aware of their real identities on some level.
When they really started to come around, however, was when they were being threatened to be put out of business from some chain ¡°fast casual¡± place that had opened up nearby just outside of Fair Hollow. Poltergeist couldn¡¯t remember the exact details but Ghoul 6 had explained that they were fucking over M&M¡¯s and taking a lot of their nighttime traffic.
They were even considering closing at 8pm, and for Graveyard Bash, that would not do.
So they launched a campaign to ruin the other restaurant. A little bit of graffiti, a few threatening notes, and even one ¡®accidental¡¯ talent usage from Poltergeist (which was probably quite the mess to clean up), and soon whatever corporate overlord in charge decided that the restaurant was not worth the trouble. Leaving M&M¡¯s the only late night diner in Midport once more.
It could have been that, or the fact that they later had Mag Mell Diner start catering their haunted house, and no one from the restaurant has ever testified against them.
Poltergeist had ordered a side order of soda bread, and together they were splitting the ¡°Irish Republican Breakfast¡±. It consisted of a cheddar cheese omelet stuffed with -- of all things -- corn beef hash, a side of boiled potatoes and cabbage with white sauce, and of course, some thick Irish bacon.
This had been their usual since highschool whenever the group went out. Mummy would eat the potatoes and omelet. Poltergeist would eat the cabbage and bacon which, with the soda bread, was pretty filling.
Poltergeist was drinking hot tea, while Mummy had cola.
Mummy¡¯s bandages were wrapped around bloody knuckles. Pharaoh''s Fist was a powerful technique but all of the force that didn¡¯t go straight into his opponent¡¯s body went back into him. It was a recent innovation of his, something to help if someone ever closed the distance. He joked about needing to wear boxing gloves now, but he probably should.
¡°You probably broke his ribs, he was holding his side and breathing weirdly when him and his friend left.¡± Poltergeist said as she buttered her soda bread.
¡°The little shit had it coming. Hopefully a few broken bones is a small price to pay to keep him out of our hair for a while.¡± Mummy said. He took a sip from his drink.
¡°How old do you think he is? I thought he was like nineteen but after seeing the goofy costume his friend came in, he might be closer to highschool age.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°I know what you are doing, but I am not gonna feel bad for going so hard on him. The fact that he felt comfortable running his mouth in front of you like that? That isn¡¯t good for us, Pea.¡±
¡°He really didn¡¯t forfeit at all?¡± Poltergeist asked. It was hard to witness the whole thing because of the kid¡¯s dumbass idea to run straight into the woods, so it was hard to keep up. As soon as Poltergeist saw the two on the ground she called the fight in their favor and Mummy dutifully relented.
¡°I told you, I would have let up if he had said uncle or went limp but he didn¡¯t. I think he was too proud or something.¡± Mummy answered.
¡°I still don¡¯t understand how you two ended up in that position.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°He had tried to trick me and I barely managed to avoid it because the little shit thought it would be a good idea to run while wearing a tinted helmet at night.¡± Mummy said.
¡°Well that tracks.¡± Poltergeist said.
Mummy went to take a bite out of his omelet and winced, dropping his fork. He grabbed at his wrist.
¡°Hey! You okay?¡± Poltergeist asked, a little concerned.
¡°It¡¯s fine, Pea. I just had a small fuck up during the fight. Do not recommend punching Messenger''s helmet.¡± Mummy said, rubbing his wrist.
¡°Fuck, I hope you didn¡¯t break anything.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°Pea it¡¯s fine. If it still hurts in the morning, I¡¯ll head to the doctor.¡± Mummy said.
¡°Okay, if you¡¯re sure¡ Here.¡± Poltergeist said, holding out a forkful of his omelet. He took the bite without saying anything. It was a rare moment she was actually glad she had trouble using her powers for delicate tasks, so she had an excuse to do it herself.
¡°Shit, my soda!¡± Mummy said. Poltergeist hadn¡¯t noticed but Mummy had spilled a drink when he went to grab his wrist.
¡°It¡¯s fine Dare, I got it.¡± Poltergeist said, using an old pet name she had for him. Poltergeist started to clean up the spill with a napkin and ordered him a new drink. While she was at it she had Mummy use his talent to wrap up the ice cubes from his spilled drink so he could ice his wrist.
She saw she spilled some on himself, and moved over to his side of the booth to lightly pad him down. When she was done, she didn¡¯t move back. She continued to feed him his omelet, which still, he didn¡¯t comment on.
¡°Ice feeling better on your wrist?¡± Poltergeist asked.
¡°Yeah, it was a good call. You never fail to always find ways to turn bad situations around.¡± Mummy said, a tad wistfully. Sometimes I wish psychic¡¯s could really read minds. Can¡¯t tell if he was referring to turning things around for Graveyard Bash or for us. Instead I just have to talk and shit.
She didn¡¯t ask him though.
Instead she asked him if she wanted her to put on some music. He nodded in response. She used the remote to put on some showtunes.
¡°Ha, they put on this musical freshman year. I fucking hated it. Honestly, still do.¡± Mummy commented.
She didn¡¯t change it though, because she liked it. It was a typical ¡®I want¡¯ song, where the leading lady sings about her hopes and dreams. And deep down, she knew mummy probably liked it too. He always would rag on the music from the club put on, but she always caught him humming along with it backstage.
¡°Weird to think back then, psychics were just fantasy. And we were just kids.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°Yeah¡ I ever tell you when I got my powers?¡± he said. He hadn¡¯t told her, and he knows he hadn¡¯t. He was always evasive whenever she asked, but since she wasn¡¯t particularly forthcoming about her villain origin herself, she couldn¡¯t really talk.
¡°I was taking a shit.¡± Mummy said. She couldn¡¯t help it, but she laughed. It was the kind of laugh that burst forth from deep within her and even started to cough.
¡°Yup, I know, I know.¡± He said. He put up the hand who¡¯s wrist he was icing up in mock surrender. Poltergeist drank some of her tea to calm down her now severe cough. ¡°You done?¡± He asked.
¡°Yeah, yeah. I am done.¡± She said, weezing a little. She lightly put her head a little on his shoulder.
¡°Yup, everytime Franken-fuck asked if I could use my powers to help teepee someone¡¯s house, and everytime Zomb-bitch implied i should use my talent to wipe my ass, they had no idea that they were so close to the truth.¡± Mummy said.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°So how did you learn to control bandages then?¡± Poltergeist asked.
¡°I might as well just tell you the full story.¡± Mummy answered. Poltergeist gave a ¡®go on¡¯ gesture for him to continue. ¡°So this back in highschool, which you know, of course. Powers had just started to become a thing, and we didn¡¯t even know how they even worked yet.
¡°Anyway, I¡¯m shitting my guts out. I think it was probably food poisoning, but I don¡¯t really remember. Anyway, of course the nearest roll was way too out of reach. And there I was just wishing it would come closer to me when, what do you know it did!¡± Mummy declared.
Poltergeist stifled a laugh, though Mummy was probably trying to be funny at this point.
¡°And of course, do I unlock general telekinesis like the girl I had a crush on? Nope. My power worked only on ass wipes. So for months, while the news is plastered with stories about how cool these psychics are, and here I am too embarrassed to tell anyone about it.¡± Mummy said.
¡°Wait so how did you get it to work on gauze bandages?¡± Poltergeist asked. Mummy was a subject targeter, there were methods people used to expand what areas their talent¡¯s could target, but those didn¡¯t wouldn¡¯t have come about till later.
¡°Well, I was desperate right? I needed this to work on something, anything else. Or else I would be the toilet guy forever. So I grabbed a bit of beige gauze and¡¡±
¡°You wiped your ass with it.¡± Poltergeist interrupted.
¡°And told myself it was no better than toilet paper, yeah.¡± Mummy said, finishing the thought.
¡°Dare, in all seriousness you were probably the first subject targeter to ever expand your talent like that.¡± Poltergeist pointed out. Timeline wise, the first methods to subject expansion weren¡¯t popularized till a few years later.
¡°Yup, and I would rather blow my brains out if anyone found out about it.¡± Mummy said.
¡°So why are you telling me?¡± Poltergeist asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess I figured you wouldn¡¯t tell anyone else about it.¡± Mummy said.
¡°What about when we were dating? Darius, I have literally seen your dick.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°Ha ha. But, I don¡¯t know, I was gonna, but then that thing with Zombie happened and you got all weird on me. Feels right to tell you now, with all that shit in the past.¡±
¡°Yeah¡ I know I already said I am sorry for how I treated you, but you really did deserve better.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°It¡¯s good. I¡¯m over it. Still pissed Zombie never apologized but whatever. But we¡¯re good.¡± Mummy said.
Mummy never got along with Zombie, even before the drama. In fact, not getting along with Zombie was something Mummy and Poltergeist had in common. And bitching about their mutual friend was something of a shared pastime when they first started dating.
But then Zombie came out to the group. And when Poltergeist started sorting through her own feelings, she realized that wasn¡¯t just jealous of her, she was attracted to her. And when Poltergeist and her started to get along, she made a move on her, which Zombie reciprocated.
The guilt made Poltergeist come clean to Mummy the morning after, and soon they were broken up. The group almost fell apart after that, but for whatever reason they pulled through.
She was happy they did, and if the price of that was that the two people she was closest in the world had no chance of ever getting along, she would pay that price. Even if she knew it was her fault.
Still, I wish he didn¡¯t blame Zombie as much for what happened.
¡°So I gotta ask.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°Ask away your vileness. Your humble general shall always answer!¡± Mummy said, with a mock bow of his head. He was mocking Zombie, since the fancy talk was her schtick. He was more the ¡®who are we fucking up today, boss¡¯ kinda villian.
¡°If you control toilet paper, do you use your talent to wipe?¡± Poltergeist asked.
¡°Wouldn¡¯t you?¡± Mummy answered, plainly.
¡°Duh!¡± Poltergeist declared.
After they paid and left a tip, Mummy started to walk her home. It wasn¡¯t needed, of course, she could kill him and anyone else if she really wanted to. Hell, if a car tried to hit her only thought would be if their insurance would cover the dent she would give their bumper.
But still, it was a good excuse to stay together for a little bit longer, and her place wasn¡¯t too far from M&M¡¯s.
She pulled out a bogey, and had mummy light it for her.
¡°This was good.¡± Mummy said.
¡°Yeah, it was. You should beat up teenagers more often.¡± Poltergeist said. Mummy gave her a light shove.
¡°So why did you wanna come here? Usually we just debrief and go home.¡± Mummy said.
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Poltergeist lied. Moment of truth.
¡°I¡¯m getting tired.¡±
¡°Yeah, it is pretty late.¡±
¡°No, like, tired. Of this whole villain thing.¡±
¡°You¡¯re always saying that shit, Pam. But you love this more than any of us.¡±
¡°I¡¯m serious. I am the strongest psychic in town and what do I have to show for it? I work a dead-end job at a warehouse with no health insurance.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°You keep the small fry out of town. If you need money we could start hitting up businesses. They probably wouldn¡¯t want you to quit if it meant scarier mother fuckers would try to run the place.¡± Mummy suggested.
¡°Like a protection racket? Tell me smartass how am I supposed to file that shit on my taxes.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°God, when did we start caring about that shit?¡± Mummy said.
¡°When it started mattering Darius! Seriously, we aren¡¯t teenagers anymore. Everyone¡¯s moved on. I have no idea why the rest of you even bother to stick around, especially Zombie.¡± Poltergeist asked.
¡°Because we all like you. And we like doing this shit. Zombie get¡¯s to larp, Franky gets to practice his weird powers and the ghouls get to hang. Everyone wins.¡± Mummy said.
¡°Yeah, and what do you get out of this smartass?¡± Poltergeist asked.
¡°Pea, you already know.¡± Mummy said. She did. He may not get his dream of working in fashion, but he could help her dream of getting back at to the world. He said as much when they were together.
She was so mad at everyone, at everything. Her shitty parents, her shitty school, her shitty world. And she wanted to break it, everything. She wanted to just be free with her friends. And she had the power to make it happen.
But she was so tired now. It didn¡¯t matter if she was angry enough she could lift a car with her mind. She still had to pay rent to a shitty landlord. To go to work for a shitty boss who didn¡¯t care if her power could hurt people if she wasn¡¯t careful.
¡°Listen, if you need money. New York or Stamford isn¡¯t that far away, I am certain someone there is running a few tournament arcs or some other shit.¡± Mummy said. Tournament arcs were a variation of the costume game that was like monster of the week but bigger, and occasionally with prize money.
¡°That won¡¯t get me health insurance through. And there is a good chance I end up hurt. And an even better chance that I end up hurting someone else. And again, taxes.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°Fucking taxes. Whatever. I am not really the guy to talk to about this shit. Why don¡¯t you bring this up to Zombie or Frankenstein?¡± Mummy asked.
¡°They would both just tell me to get registered so I can get a better job.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°Why don¡¯t you?¡± Mummy asked.
¡°C¡¯mon, I thought you were with me on this shit!¡± Poltergeist yelled.
¡°Well you keep talking about quitting! I¡¯d rather you register than pissaway all the shit we¡¯ve built!¡± Mummy yelled back.
¡°Fuck.¡± Poltergeist said. She shivered from the cold and paused to think about it. ¡°That is actually a good point.¡±
¡°Mind repeating that into a microphone. I need proof you said that so I can rub it in Zombie¡¯s ugly face later.¡± Mummy said.
¡°Whatever asshole.¡± Poltergeist said, punched him in the arm. She noticed. He was still icing his wrist. It must have been cold.
¡°Ugh, it isn¡¯t fair. All these psychic powers and I still have to walk places.¡± Poltergeist whined. It was true, her powers were much better at throwing other people in the air than herself.
¡°You¡¯d save on car payments.¡± Mummy said.
¡°Wow, the man makes one good point and suddenly he starts thinking practically about the world. That¡¯s some good shit.¡± Poltergeist said. She tossed her cigarette onto the ground and stomped it out.
¡°Ha ha.¡± Mummy said dryly.
¡°It really was a good idea.¡± Poltergeist confessed. ¡°I think I am gonna go tomorrow to get registered.¡±
¡°That sucks, but good I guess.¡± Mummy said. He shivered. He used his talent to unwrap the bandage covering the ice and breathed into his hands to warm them up.
¡°It¡¯s pretty cold out.¡± Poltergeist commented.
¡°Yeah.¡± Mummy agreed.
¡°Instead of walking back to your place, wanna warm up and just crash at my place tonight? I have the day off tomorrow so I can just drive you to work in the morning.¡± Poltergeist said.
¡°Then run off to willingly put your name on the government¡¯s shit list.¡± Mummy said.
¡°Dare, stop talking about the errands I am gonna run. I¡¯m trying to see if you wanna fuck.¡± Poltergeist said, cutting straight through the bullshit.
¡°...Oh.¡± Mummy said.
After that the two capped off their evening together. But though Poltergeist, or really, Pamela, would get in contact with a staffer from the Harmon Telekinetic Affairs Commission she would not end up getting registered. Instead, two weeks later, Pamela Gallagher¡¯s workplace would report her missing.
Ch 12. Late Morning Breakfast
10:59. Friday, December 1st, 2023. Alexis¡¯s Car.
Alexis decided against going straight home.
It wasn¡¯t because it was a nice day out. Sun couldn¡¯t be seen behind the overcast clouds. It was pretty windy making it far colder than it had any right to be.
Maybe it was the guilt for lightly betraying her abolitionist principles, or maybe it was just lingering social anxiety from having to talk to people. Whatever the reason, Alexis decided against going straight home.
Instead, to cheer herself up, she decided to grab some coffee from her favorite breakfast chain, Duncan¡¯s Coffee, which the HPD was pretty close to.
Of course it¡¯s close, cops gotta have their donuts.
Duncan¡¯s was a franchise with not a lot of love outside of New England. Sure they had it, but it was here that they had most locations. Ironically, their slogan was ¡®Duncan¡¯s Coffee Fuels America!¡¯
Harmon even has two locations, one on the north side of town and this one on the south side of town. Though even though this one was open for longer, Alexis thought the other was a bit nicer.
After she got her usual order of a medium light coffee and an egg and cheese sandwich, she started to head back home. Because the HPD was on the other side of town from where she worked, she ended up passing by Hoplite Logistics which wouldn¡¯t normally be on her route.
Huh, that girl never ended up calling me back. She did give me enough for my boss to launch an investigation though. Maybe I should swing by.
On a lark, she ended up doing it.
Hoplite Logistics was just off Millbrook Avenue, which offered a view of mostly a lot of trees with the occasional warehouse or business park. But because it connected South Street, where the HPD was, to Main Street, it usually had a lot of traffic. Or, well, a lot of traffic for Harmon.
Hoplite also had another facet that made swinging by a little less difficult. There were actually two parking lots, one for the workers right by their driveway¡¯s entrance, and one further in closer to the building, with all the trucks they used. To enter that one you needed to get through a gate.
What was weird was that there didn¡¯t seem to be any cameras in the parking lot the workers used, and the person at the gate didn¡¯t seem to have a great vantage point to look at it either.
No clue why they designed it that way, but hey, free parking.
She wouldn¡¯t actually enter today, not without talking to her boss first, but it wasn¡¯t weird for someone to park somewhere to eat their egg sandwich.
She could check out the building and figure out when they usually got deliveries. That way when she passed that info onto her boss, she could make sure to show up when they would actually be loading and unloading, the time one would most want to have the help from a psychic.
And with that, I can officially report that I did two whole things related to my job, go me!
Hoplite not being a Telekinetic Establishment would make any case against them harder, you had to prove that they knowingly used psychic labor, and not just an employee using their talent of their own volition against company policy. Which could end up with the employee just getting fired.
Alexis pulled out her food. Have to act the part of someone eating their late morning breakfast, even if that is literally who I am.
¡°Man, I hate the South Street Duncan¡¯s, they forgot my--¡± Dink! Alexis¡¯s windshield was hit by a small rock, causing her to flinch.
¡°What the hell was that?¡± She asked herself. Her answer came in the form of another rock, hitting her windshield. This one caused a small scratch in the glass.
¡°Seriously? What the hell is going on?¡± She looked around. The car is parked so is someone throwing these at me?
It was at this moment she was beside herself. Her rational self thought it was probably best if she just put the car in drive and go home. But there was a small part of her, the curious part, that wanted to know more.
Maybe it was an overcorrection for being so subservient during the presentation to the HPD, but she unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. Car still running however, in case she needed to book it.
She exited her vehicle and looked around. There was nobody there. The parking lot was empty. There wasn¡¯t anyone who could have been throwing pebbles at her windshield. Maybe a kid threw them and ducked underneath a car?
¡°Hello?¡± She asked the parking lot.
Nothing greeted her back.
If it is a kid, they would stay hiding. But why aren¡¯t they in school?
Because she didn¡¯t see anyone, she decided to search for a bit. Leaving the car door open, still running.
It has to be a kid, but just in case it is some sort of human trafficking ring I am keeping a quick exit strategy.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Alexis understood how irrational that thought was. She understood that the majority of kidnappings were perpetrated by people who knew the victim, and the corollary notion that literally nobody she knew was even aware she would be in this parking lot. Still she couldn¡¯t help but act cautiously from years of willingly subjecting herself to sensationalist media.
She ducked her head underneath the car parked next to her on the driver''s side.
Nope, no kids or kidnappers hiding here.
She searched underneath the car that was parked in front of her. Still nothing.
At this rate this will be a fun story to tell Aabria. I don¡¯t think I have ever been the one to share a ghost story before.
Instead of checking the car parked on the passengers side, Alexis decided to call it. If it was a kid, she was going to let them have their fun pranking strangers.
So, she stood back up and went to get back in her car.
Did the wind blow my door shut?
The door was locked, so now she was locked out. And she hadn¡¯t taken her phone with her. Boo, now the coffee is gonna get cold!
She started walking toward the booth at the gate. She could probably ask to borrow her phone to call roadside assistance if she explained her situation. It would be weird explaining why she chose to eat at their parking lot, but she could tell them that she was just really hungry and that distracted driving could get you pulled over!
It only took a few steps though before she heard something shatter behind her. Her car¡¯s window had been completely destroyed. She still didn¡¯t see anyone around. She was convinced everything up until this point had been done deliberately.
This has to be some prank. If their goal was to steal my car they wouldn¡¯t have shut my door just to shatter the window. They would have just hopped into the car when it was still running while I was checking underneath the other cars, right? Unless the car door getting closed really was just an accident.
None of it added up.
If it is a carjacker, why bother tricking me with the rocks to get me out of my vehicle? There aren¡¯t any cameras and it is out of sight of the security post at the gate, so surely any of the other cars would have made better targets. A few may even be unlocked!
Idea¡¯s bounced around her head as she debated whether to run for the gate or to run to her car so she could drive off.
Is it possible Hoplite hired some sort of psychic security and are deliberately scaring people away? That wouldn¡¯t just be using psychic labor without filing the proper paperwork and getting the proper training. It would be¡ It would be¡ I don¡¯t know what it would be but it would have to be super illegal right?
The issue with Hoplite being in this situation though means she couldn¡¯t rely on the gard¡¯s at the gate to help her out, because they would be the one¡¯s doing this to her.
¡°S-seriously! W-who''s ever doing this? Stop! It isn¡¯t funny! D-destroying someone¡¯s property isn''t cool! And just so you know I am, like, a really powerful psychic, so better just walk away!¡± Alexis said in her best threatening voice. Her best would have been a lot of people¡¯s worst.
She was almost tempted to throw in a ¡®and I work for the government!¡¯ just for good measure. But most people weren¡¯t as afraid of the government as they probably should be and even Alexis had to recognize that.
She started to walk toward the vehicle, every muscle in her body screaming at her not to.
In her head she knew that getting inside her car and driving off would be the best move, but getting her body to understand that was another thing entirely. The window being shattered could have been a blessing in disguise because it meant she could manually undo the lock. The car was even still running.
Hoping with everything that she had that there didn¡¯t actually have to be some sort of fight. She took a few steps toward the car.
As she got closer though, Alexis was not prepared for what she saw, even with all the other strange things that had happened to her in the last few minutes. The car next to hers was being ripped apart, piece by piece. Something was tearing into the metal, and ripping into it with invisible claws like it was putty.
Parts of the car were flying. The roof hit the pavement of the parking lot with a loud clang. The tires started to roll. Then the door to the car made a whooshing sound as it came directly at where Alexis was standing.
All Alexis could think about was how the door was just getting bigger and bigger. And when she realized that this could be the moment she was killed, all she could think about were all the stupid decisions that lead her to that point. She had no idea why any of this was even happening.
She didn¡¯t have time to duck or move out of the way. She didn¡¯t have time to even yell out a profanity.
Instead at the moment of would be impact, something occurred which hadn¡¯t happened in months: Alexis¡¯s talent activated.
was an automatic-type psychic talent. Alexis had no control over it on any conscious level. Its trigger condition was simple: if a projectile was approaching Alexis, it would activate. It didn¡¯t let her fly, it didn¡¯t let her move things, and it didn¡¯t even activate half the time she thought it would or should.
She had the lowest Danger Level a psychic could get, not just because of her rare trigger condition or the fact this trigger condition was somehow inconsistent, but because when it did activate it wasn¡¯t really all that powerful.
All her talent would do was act as a cushion between her and the projectile. The only thing notable about her talent besides its inconsistency was its shape. Unlike most defensive talents, hers didn¡¯t take the form of a wall of force or a protective sphere, instead it took the form of a pair of invisible wings.
Still, the talent wasn¡¯t all that strong. It could maybe block a tomato. Though because her talent was more of a cushion then a shield, it would at least be a lot less messy doing so.
Here though? The moment the car door flew toward her, she felt the wings were bigger than they had ever been before. They bent to slow down the door¡¯s speed, until it came to a full and complete stop, just inches in front of her face.
Whatever was tearing into the car next to Alexis''s though didn¡¯t seem to notice, and carried on like nothing happened. Shredding the passenger seat. Alexis wasted no time hesitating however, and lunged for her car, unlocking the door, putting it into reverse, and speeding off.
When she got home she caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror and saw that she had been crying. She honestly had no idea when she started. After getting to the front door, she went to unlock it but dropped her keys. When she went to pick them up she saw that her hands were shaking.
It wasn¡¯t just the thing that had been destroying the car that had her scared. It also wasn¡¯t the fact that if her talent had chosen to activate at anything other than its full strength she probably would have died. It wasn¡¯t even that she had cut herself on the glass unlocking her door.
It was that when her talent had activated, she was brought back to the day of her awakening. The memories flooded into her all at once, and now that she was home she had nothing to do but cry.
Ch 13. A Lovely Day
08:00. Monday, December 4th, 2023. Alexis¡¯s Condo.
Alexis wanted to take a personal day. She still wasn¡¯t over everything that had happened to her yesterday and wanted some time to sort out her feelings a bit. As any reasonable person might in her position.
However, this was no easy task because her boss, Lia, was on vacation. Personal days usually had to be approved. So Alexis checked her contract, but all it said was that it had to be approved by her boss or their designee. So she wasn¡¯t sure what to do.
And when you aren¡¯t sure about your contract, you go to your union steward.
Her steward was Aabria. At first this had confused Alexis because Arabia¡¯s official title was the ¡®Human Services Assistant¡¯. It was after learning that they were separate from the town¡¯s Human Resources and learning more of the kind of work they did, like helping residents navigate social services, that Alexis thought it made perfect sense that Aabria was the union steward.
So Alexis called up Aabria.
¡°Heyyyy Aabria, I want to take a personal day, but my boss is out of town. What should I do?¡± Alexis asked, trying to not sound completely depressed.
¡°Hope everything is alright, did Lia leave you an email? If not, you can probably ask the Labor Relations Director. You have her email, right?¡± Aabria responded.
¡°Yeah I do. And don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be fine. Might even have a good story to tell you after I process it a bit.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Okay, hope to hear it when you are ready to talk about it.¡± Aabria said
She started to type up the email, but she wasn¡¯t sure what to put as her reason for needing it. If it was Lia, she would just say ¡®mental health¡¯ but she figured since this was going to someone she didn¡¯t know too well she wanted to make sure it got approved.
But she couldn¡¯t be expected to explain that she had almost died and wanted time to relax, right? She decided to keep it vague and say that a very distressing event happened in her life and she would need the day to deal with it.
Her email was given a response promptly: denied.
The Labor Relations Director explained in her professional, but terse, email that Lia had indeed marked her as her designee. And though the ordinance which served as the foundation for the Telekinetic Affairs Commission specified they could request assistance from other municipal agencies, Alexis¡¯s own contract stipulated that she could be denied a personal day if Alexis¡¯s absence could cause undue strain.
And since Alexis taking the day off would leave no one available if a resident wanted to reach the Telekinetic Affairs Commission, and the Labor Relations Director didn¡¯t want to pull resources from other places on such short notice, she was denying the request for a personal day.
Which was, yes, all logic that Alexis could follow, and was built on premises that she even knew for a fact was true. Still she was a bit disappointed.
She had the right to appeal it but she couldn¡¯t see the point. But the good news was that the whole experience had actually already taken her mind off the events of Friday anyway.
Screw it, if I can¡¯t take the day off, I may as well do a 180 and try to bury myself in my work.
Alexis even decided that because she had plenty of time to still get ready, she would even go to work in person. So she left her computer on the couch still open to her email and went to the bathroom to get ready.
She stripped off her pajamas, and hopped in the shower. She closed the curtain, but left the door open so that the steam wouldn¡¯t fog up the mirror, one of many perks of living alone.
While in the shower though, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder about what she even saw yesterday. A psychic powerful enough to destroy a car like that shouldn¡¯t have a range long enough to be out of sight. So was the user nearby? Maybe inside one of the other cars? And what was even the motivation?
She also wasn¡¯t sure what she should even do about it. She didn¡¯t see the value of going to the police, and figured that whoever had their car ripped apart would probably end up doing it anyway. Wait, should I be worried that the cops will come after me for this?
It was pretty obvious to Alexis that she had no means or motive to be able to do it. Heck, she even had the receipt for how much it cost to replace her car¡¯s window dated for the day after it happened. But if there was a camera that I didn¡¯t see, that would place me at the scene of the crime, making me the only suspect.
And if she was somehow convicted, it could be alleged that she lied during her registration to deliberately receive a lower danger level. Which would be considered fraud.
She let these thoughts run in her head a bit until the steam of the shower was getting a bit too much for. She turned off the water and wrapped herself up in a towel. But when she opened the curtain she realized why the air had felt a bit off. Man, I forgot to leave the door open.
The room was super foggy, so she went to wipe the mirror though. When she did she saw that it had cracks in the top left corner. Okay, that is weird.
She didn¡¯t freak out though, instead she grabbed her phone and searched for an explanation.
It turns out this could happen for a lot of reasons, one of which was thermal stress. This made the most sense to her because the door being closed meant the bathroom was hotter than usual. Also, she got the mirror from whoever had lived in the condo before so she figured it was probably pretty old anyway.
With at least one mystery solved, she didn¡¯t have much time left to get ready, so she just used the mirror in her room to do her makeup instead.
Alexis didn¡¯t like to wear a lot of makeup, but when she was going out she usually liked to have a bit of eyeliner with pretty subtle wings. Mascara usually made her eyelids feel funny so she skipped on that.
She had more clean clothes available than normal because she had to do laundry on Thursday to have clothes ready to wear on Friday for the presentation. So at least she had that going for her.
She put on a white button up shirt and some black dress pants which was her go-to. She tried to make things easier for herself by not varying up her choices in outfits. But she did understand that society preferred women to have a bit of variation, so to add a bit of color she put on a light pink newsboy cap and a matching trench coat.
This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
The color of the hat and the trenchcoat went pretty well with her hair color, which she sometimes described as auburn or brown, but was so dark and reddish that it almost looked burgundy. The pinks of the outfit really highlighted that, she thought.
Once she was dressed and ready, she grabbed her keys and went to the couch where she had left her laptop and bag.
¡°Shit my keyboard!¡± Alexis shouted. Her external keyboard was completely broken in half, right in the middle where the ¡®h¡¯ key was. She had typed her email using the laptop¡¯s native keyboard, she must have sat on the external one without realizing it. She was running late to work though and didn¡¯t have much time to think about it. She unplugged the keyboard and stuffed the laptop in her bag. She would just have to get a new external keyboard later.
When Alexis got to her car, she surveyed the recent repair. It looked great. Her mom, dad, and Jen had all been busy but thankfully there was a business that had onsite glass replacement in town. They even handled it all that day.
Still had to pay a pretty penny. She probably could have gotten her insurance to cover it, but they would probably make her go to the cops which she already had decided she didn¡¯t want to do.
Better to just eat the cost anyway and not have to go through the trouble.
As Alexis drove to work, she felt bad for whoever had their car destroyed, even if deep down she was secretly a bit relieved it hadn¡¯t been hers. Paying to repair a window out of pocket was one thing, but having to buy a whole new car because of some insane psychic? Definitely not.
09:10. Monday, December 4th, 2023. Harmon Town Hall.
She got to work ten minutes late. Alexis tried to justify it to herself because she was in person!
Aabria seemed relieved when she saw her, which Alexis was a bit touched by.
¡°Alexis, didn¡¯t expect to see you this morning. I thought you were taking a personal day?¡± Aabria asked.
¡°Yeah, uh, I got denied.¡± Alexis replied.
¡°Oh honey, that Heather can be a real B-I-T-C-H sometimes.¡± Aabria said, spelling out the letters in ¡®bitch¡¯. It was nice to have someone mad on your behalf sometimes.
¡°It¡¯s fine Aabria. I actually had the whole weekend to get over it, I was just being a bit of a baby. Thanks for looking out though.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Of course, anytime dear.¡± Aabria said.
They chatted a bit about their weekend, which ended up being a bit more difficult for Alexis considering all she did was get her car¡¯s window replaced and watch anime. She didn¡¯t like talking about anime at work. If she mentioned the car thing she was worried Aabria would ask a follow up question and Alexis still didn¡¯t feel ready to talk about what happened yet.
Alexis managed to avoid the question by talking about how her recent presentation went, and how Selectman Sobol had offered her to give a similar presentation to a collection of local businesses.
¡°Ivan, that ol¡¯ jerk. I¡¯ve worked for this town for 12 years and have never met anyone more ruthless.¡± Aabria said.
Aabria was basically obligated to feel that way about him being the union steward and most likely involved in some of the negotiations with the town.
¡°He actually wasn¡¯t that bad to me. He was pretty polite. You think I shouldn¡¯t follow up on his offer?¡± Alexis asked. It wouldn¡¯t be hard for Alexis to fake forgetting to do something since she frequently actually forgot to do many things.
¡°No, definitely do. If you can stay on his good side, maybe he will spare you come budget season.¡± Aabria said.
¡°Noted.¡± Alexis said.
For Harmon, ¡®budget season¡¯ would begin in January and end sometime in June. And Aabria was right, it would definitely help to have the person most likely to suggest making cuts on their side. Maybe the offer was even some sort of test? Like a ¡®you scratch my back I scratch your back¡¯ kind of thing?
There was also the partisan aspect of it to consider, currently the Select Board was majority conservative, with Selector Goodman in the minority by a slim margin. And it had been that way for years. Officially, Goodman was just their liaison, but he had also been the one who got the ordinance passed in the first place. Back then he had help from the majority leader, but he had decided to not run for reelection and was replaced last November. So Alexis wasn¡¯t really sure what the plan was.
She decided it was best to follow up.
She continued her conversation with Aabria for a bit before having to stop when she got a call. It was Selector Goodman.
¡°Hey Alexis, how are you doing this morning?¡± Selector Goodman asked.
¡°Good, good. How about yourself?¡± Alexis responded.
¡°Great, super happy that last Friday was a success. Thanks for taking one for the team, I know they didn¡¯t make it easy for you.¡± Selector Goodman said.
It was nice for him to say that, but it still didn¡¯t help her feel any more clean.
¡°Uh, thanks.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Of course! Anyway, I had something I wanted to ask you about. I was gonna mention after the event but you gave me the ol¡¯ irish goodbye after it was over.¡± Selector Goodman said.
¡°Yeah, sorry about that, I was a bit at my limit when it came to social interaction.¡± Alexis said.
¡°No problem at all, looking after your mental health is always important and looks different for everyone.¡± Selector Goodman said.
She was happy that she could be honest with him about her wellbeing, even if he did talk about it like he was a wellness influencer. Like, I wasn¡¯t ¡®looking after my mental health¡¯, I just have social anxiety.
¡°So¡ What was it you wanted to ask me about?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Right! I took some pictures of the event and was wondering if you want me to send it to you so you could post on the commission¡¯s Sharebi page.¡± Selector Goodman said.
Sharebi (pronounced Share-bee), was a site used exclusively for old people to post photos and link articles. Which meant of course, it was the best way for small towns like Harmon to be able to connect with the people who always remember to vote. Maintaining it was Alexis¡¯s job, as was taking pictures of events the commission was involved in.
Though, one could forgive her for not remembering too this last time considering she was the one giving the presentation.
Posting photos though meant people were going to probably see her give a presentation to cops, which was not something she was enthusiastic about. But she had a plan for that.
¡°Okay, send them over. Monday mornings are usually the best time to make sure a post gets seen anyway.¡± Alexis said.
¡°That¡¯s great to hear!¡± Selector Goodman said.
After that the conversation wrapped up nicely. With that out of the way, Alexis was finally able to grab a cup of coffee from the break room and could settle in for the day.
She opened up her laptop and logged in, the screen displaying her email client from when she had received the email from Heather the Labor Relations Director. The cursor flashing inside the box where she could write a reply.
That¡¯s strange. There is just the letter ¡®h¡¯ in the box. I know I was never planning on replying since sending the one email was socially taxing enough. So did it happen when I sat on the keyboard?
But that didn¡¯t make sense to her, because if it had been then it wouldn¡¯t have been just one letter, it would have been a full key smash. But that got her thinking about when she even sat on the keyboard in the first place. She dismissed it earlier because she had to head out the door, but it was weird that she would have sat on it and not noticed. And for that to break it right down the middle. Down the middle, where the ¡®h¡¯ key was.
She thought about how weird it was that she would forget to leave the bathroom door open. She always left it open. But then she saw that the mirror had cracked and she started to forget to think about how weird that was.
Then she thought about Friday. She never saw the person who destroyed that car. Just the effects. And it was weird she wouldn¡¯t be able to see them when the range for a talent that strong couldn¡¯t be that long.
But if the user had a way of always keeping themselves unseen. Then they could use their talent anywhere.
Alexis stood up fast. Her eyes wide.
Like say, in someone¡¯s house.
Ch 14. A Surprise Conversation
09:40. Monday, December 4th, 2023. Harmon Town Hall.
Alexis worked in an open office plan. It was sometimes called a bullpen. And she shared it with the Human Services Department and the Department of Recreation. Usually there would be around five or so people throughout the day.
When she had a meeting to take with someone, like with Pam a few weeks ago, she had access to the convenient conference room right next store.
All the desks were connected, and hers was near the center of the room attached to Arabia''s desk. All this was to say that when she stood up, she could immediately see that everyone in the room was staring at her.
¡°S-Sorry everyone. I, uh, thought I saw a bug.¡± Alexis announced. Everyone else seemed to buy this explanation. Except Aabria who seemed concerned.
¡°A little jumpier than usual today aren¡¯t we? You sure you''re alright, dear?¡± Aabria asked.
¡°Yeah, a bit nervous, that¡¯s all. Maybe I should switch to decaf.¡± Alexis joked. Aabria was a big believer in the health benefits of tea, so Alexis hoped that bringing up the subject would help her deflect.
¡°If you are going through something I can cover for you, seriously, don¡¯t worry if you just need to get out of here.¡± Aabria offered. Alexis wished that she Aabria wasn¡¯t so nice because it made insisting that she was fine that much harder.
¡°I am good, but thanks for the offer. I thought about it this morning and decided it would probably be for the best if I focused on my work for a little to take my mind off things.¡± Alexis said.
Aabria seemed to buy that explanation, and it helped that there was actually telling the truth. But what Alexis didn¡¯t want to say was that the reason she wanted to stay here so bad was because she realized she might not be safe going home.
So Alexis really did throw herself into her work. She ended up sending an email to Selectman Sobol following up about presenting to that business network that he was a part of. She figured that if Aabria thought it was the right call, she was probably right.
And she figured with someone as busy as the Selectman she wouldn¡¯t hear back for a while so that she still had time to pivot if someone like her boss when she got back or Selector Goodman indicated it was a bad call.
She also posted the photo¡¯s Selector Goodman sent. She had come up with an idea while on the phone with Goodman that if he sent her any pictures of the crowd, she could just post those.
Instead of posting pictures of herself giving the presentation, she just posted some graphs taken from the slideshow. Effectively erasing herself from the day¡¯s events. It was a small bit of protest, and if she wasn¡¯t still freaking out about her situation, she probably would have been pretty happy with herself.
And she was definitely still freaking out about her situation.
Alexis refused to believe that whoever or whatever attacked that car on Friday. She couldn¡¯t believe it. It honestly made more sense to Alexis she was having some sort of paranoid delusion and was gaslighting herself from unprocessed trauma after what had happened to her on Friday.
Someone sneaking into her house, only to break her mirror and keyboard. That didn¡¯t sound like a psychic criminal or an assassin, it sounded more like a goblin.
But then again, she also had no idea why someone would lure her out of her car just to attack the vehicle next to hers. None of it was making sense.
And why me of all people! There are people in this world with Comic Book Syndrome severe enough they would be absolutely begging for something like this to happen to them.
She went through the list of enemies she had in her life. Which ended up being pretty difficult.
Alexis lived her life as a proud political pawn in other people¡¯s games. She made it a point to be friendly and loyal to the people she answered to, always asking questions and permission before doing anything. And her reward for being so fiercely loyal was usually the fact they would take on the burden of making decisions and taking the responsibility of absorbing any blame.
If Selector Goodman asked her to do something she would do it, even if he wasn¡¯t technically her boss. Legally, he couldn¡¯t ask her to do much since so he usually had to frame it like he was offering to help.
Like with the pictures. Selector Goodman couldn¡¯t ask her to post the pictures, but he could offer to send them. And in the email he even framed it like Alexis had been the one to ask him to take them so she could post them. But Alexis knew how to read in between the lines, the Telekinetic Affairs Commission being a success looked good for him since he was the one who was most associated with it politically.
The TAC being seen working with cops sent a message to the more conservative leaning voters that the commission was a force for stability, while sending a message to the more progressive minded ones that it was working to improve the police. A win-win for the Selector. But he couldn¡¯t ask for it directly so it was up to Alexis to read the intent.
When it came to her boss, the members of the TAC, and even her union, it was all the same. She stayed on their goodside, juggled her different loyalties, and never tried to offend anyone.
As for her personal life, she really only had three people in her life. Jen, her mom, her gram (mother¡¯s mother), and her dad. Her parents were divorced and she talked to her mom a lot more than her dad. Her dad came from a bigger family but she wasn¡¯t particularly close to any of them. She had friends from college but had lost touch with most of them, but never left on bad terms.
Her dating life she kept separate from everyone except for Jen and occasionally her mom. The rest of her family knew she was gay, but she hadn¡¯t had any serious relationships. In college she had a few different girlfriends, but none she was particularly serious with.
She went to grab another coffee from the breakroom, having long since downed the first cup.
Her mug had a red and white illustration of the front of a boat on it, with a caption underneath labeled ¡°FOCSLE¡±. It was the name of her union. Short for the Federal, Office, County and Local Employees Union. Her union rep, Micheal, gave it to her after she finished her orientation.
As she poured her coffee, she thought about how mixed her feelings were when she got this job. She always had a private belief psychics didn¡¯t really have things that hard. That they got adoration for getting to do things other people couldn¡¯t do. And that when there was a backlash to that adoration people were just a bit too quick to frame it as discrimination. At least in her state anyway.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Even if it was hard for her to think of her talent as a privilege with how much psychological stress using it brought her. But she considered herself the exception to the rule. Most of the psychics that she met were like Tyler from Dino Might Movers who were happy to flex their powers at a moment''s notice.
In a lot of ways, though, it was the perfect job for her. The hours were manageable, not very dangerous, and even on a very rare occasion when there was a case in front of the commission she even got to feel a bit like a detective sorting out the facts from fiction. And if someone like her was involved, she could moderate the impulses of those who were so quick to come to the defense of giving psychics the right to do whatever they wanted.
Even if the influence I even have is¡ At best limited.
Once she finished preparing her coffee, she went back to her desk. When she did, she saw Selectman Sobol waiting for her there chatting up Frank the Recreation Director.
Aabria, even though she sat at the adjacent desk had gotten up to leave to talk with Cathy who was the head Human Services and her boss. Is that because she hates him that much or did she really just need to talk to Cathy. Would have been nice to have my emotional support union steward within arm¡¯s reach.
¡°Selectman Sobol, pleasure seeing you here, I assume you got my email?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Don¡¯t be so scared. Frank here was just telling me all about your keen mind and knack for problem solving.¡± Selectman Sobol said. Giving Frank a hard pat on the back. A gesture Frank seemed more than happy to receive before he excused himself from the conversation.
Wait, did I look nervous? And did he ask Frank about me or did Frank divulge that information on his own after it came up naturally?
¡°And yes, I happen to be in the area and thought I would drop by.¡± Selectman Sobol said.
¡°Oh course, Selec--¡± Alexis had started to say, before being cut off.
¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to say, please don¡¯t be so formal. Call me Ivan. And I assume it is okay for me to do the same?¡± Selector Sobol asked.
¡°Oh, um. Yeah.¡± Alexis asked. She would honestly have been more comfortable if had demanded to be called ¡®sir¡¯. She liked calling people by titles because it gave her a bit of distance from people. It didn¡¯t help that the Selectman never even seemed to crack a smile, even when was giving someone a literal pat on the back to someone.
¡°You were saying?¡± He said, giving her back the floor.
¡°Yeah, I was gonna a-ask¡¡± Alexis stuttered. Wait, what was I going to say?
She was really off her rhythm.
¡°How about I go first?¡± He offered.
She nodded, but tried not to nod too eagerly.
¡°So your email had me a bit confused, since last we left off I was going to have the president of the Harmon Merchants¡¯ Association reach out to Lia. But after hearing from you, it made me think you might actually be the point person instead.¡±
Shit I messed up.
She had actually set everything up right in their first conversation. If she had just sat back and done nothing, her boss would have handled it when she got back from vacation. Now she had a very confused politician at her desk wondering if he should actually be sending people her way!
Gotta spin this while staying on his goodside.
¡°Oh you see, my boss is on vacation. And figured since I don¡¯t know when the next meeting is, it would be best to be proactive.¡± Alexis said.
¡°I figured you would need more time to prepare, but you did mention already having a similar presentation prepared. If that is the case, the next meeting is on the 6th at 7 pm. How does that work for you?¡± Selectman Sobol asked.
She checked her schedule, and she was in fact free. The only other meeting she had scheduled was the Society for Good Vibrations meeting on Wednesday. Welp, in for a penny, in for a pound.
¡°Yeah that is fine.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Good. I will let the president know there is a guest speaker available if he is interested.¡± Selectman Sobol said.
¡°Glad I can be of service.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Now that we have that cleared up, I had a request I wanted to pass on to you.¡± Selectman Sobol said.
Really, another one?
As if he could read her mind, he continued. ¡°This comes to me by way of my brother, Borris. He wanted to know if it would be possible for your commission and the department to hold an event targeted toward youth about the dangers of the costume game.¡±
What?
Alexis already knew that the Chief of Police Borris Sobol had some sort of personal grudge against the costume game because Selectman Sobol already told her as much. Why the chief of police decided to use his brother as a middleman instead of taking the idea to the commission himself was beyond Alexis.
But overall an idea like that just seemed like a powder keg. Is this the real test? It does feel like the main reason he stopped by to talk in person. The Selectman wants to know if the commission will play ball with his brother¡¯s insane hobby horse?
Alexis thought she could turn this around though. And if she could do it while avoiding having to work with cops she was going to.
¡°Actually, it is funny you say that. After the presentation and hearing about the chief¡¯s concerns on Friday, I ended up looking into the subject a lot more and decided it could dovetail nicely with an ongoing project of mine.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Really?¡± Selectman Sobol. He seemed intrigued to Alexis.
¡°I¡¯m a regular guest speaker and mentor for a group of kids as part of the commission¡¯s regular collaboration with Harmon High¡¯s SGV. This week I had been planning to discuss the dangers of the Costume Game, and the importance of responsible power use.¡± Alexis said.
Half of this statement was a lie of course. She had not in fact been researching the Costume Game, but her work with the SGV was actually something she was involved with personally.
The Harmon High Society for Good Vibrations, sometimes shortened to ¡®Vibes Club¡¯ or ¡®SGV¡¯, was a student-run club that formed in the wake of the chaos the first psychic awakenings brought. Its explicit goal was to form good relations between psychics and non-psychics.
The commission¡¯s work with the club mostly extended to providing resources to the budding psychics and offering them various role models. Sometimes she just had them play games, that was fun.
This was basically the only part of her job she really didn¡¯t need to answer to anyone. Even the club¡¯s actual advisor tended to just defer to her because she was psychic and supposedly the expert.
¡°I suppose that could work. My brother will be happy to know that your commission is taking the threat seriously.¡± Selectman Sobol said.
There really isn¡¯t a threat but okay.
¡°If you think there are any materials of interest, he would probably be interested in reading it. ¡± Selectman Sobol said.
Seriously, what are you his keeper? Definitely not gonna bother with that shit.
¡°Sure, of course.¡± Alexis lied.
Selectman Sobol left after that, apparently needing to meet with a prospective client. After he left Alexis had two presentations who¡¯s deadline would be rapidly approaching, and a bunch of calls she would have to make too. And not to mention, she still had someone potentially after her and no idea who or why.
Ch 15. Wild Speculation
15:12. Monday, December 4th, 2023. Harmon Town Hall.
It took forever to get through all of the calls and emails she had to send to make sure she was even allowed to do half of the stuff she talked about with Selectman Sobol. She ended up working through her lunch break. Going through a whole pot before she even started to update the presentations she would need to give. And she hadn¡¯t even done the research yet on the Costume Game.
I shouldn¡¯t have said anything about throwing myself into my work, this is the universe punishing me.
She decided she needed a less brain intensive task to focus on or she would probably end up burning out before Wednesday. She decided she would scroll on Clogger. In Alexis¡¯s mind, Sharebi was for old people and animal pictures/videos, while Clogger was for news and art. It was also an old site, its name literally came from ¡®computer log¡¯ and had been designed as a microblogging platform.
The logo was a pair of dancing shoes, but most frequent users frequently called it the Shit Site because the name sounded like clogging a toilet. Alexis also called it the Shit Site even though she was just a lurker.
It worked by letting you separate your feed into multiple timelines, sometimes called just a line. Which Alexis thought was supposed to be a pun on line dancing. Each line had different tags or profiles selected by the user, so that a user could have a line for a fandom they were into or subject they were passionate about.
By default though there was a timeline which contained whatever topics or posts were currently trending, and was simply marked ¡®news¡¯. Alexis was currently browsing this one.
Huh, they are making a new adaptation of The Cat. Hope they don¡¯t mess up his character as badly as they did the last time around. Honestly can¡¯t imagine some people would be thrilled about another superhero movie when there are people running around pretending they are real.
The mind numbing act of checking the news let her relax a little bit. But it didn¡¯t take long for an errant post about some leaked photos of the car they were planning to use in the movie for Alexis¡¯s thoughts to return to the events of Friday.
Wow, it is easier to forget that your life may be in danger than I thought it would be.
But there was only one way she could ensure her safety, and that meant figuring out who or what was responsible.
She started by coming up with a timeline of all the strange things that had happened to her since Friday.
On Friday, rocks started to hit my car when I was parked in the parking lot. I stepped out to check the cars around mine for a potential cause when my car door closed on its own. When I walked away, my window shattered. Then the car next to mine was torn apart like it was being clawed at and one of the parts almost hit me.
Today the bathroom door was closed when I always leave it open, my mirror had a crack, and my keyboard broke in half right down the middle with the ¡®H¡¯ key seemingly having been pressed.
She boiled down the potential answers to a few different options.
Option 1, I am crazy. She gave this medium odds because there was a chance that at least some of the things were in her head or just misunderstandings.
For example, if the bathroom door closed and the mirror broke for mundane reasons like she thought originally, that meant there was a lot less evidence that whatever caused the events of Friday had access to her home. But this was besides the point, the more pressing question was whether all of what had happened so far was in her head.
She rated this much lower odds, however.
I think I would be more likely to believe someone if they told me that actually it was the past ten years that had been all in my head. I mean psychics are real and I have to go to work everyday? Sounds like a nightmare high school me would have come up with.
If she was having hallucinatory breaks from reality, that didn¡¯t explain how her car window broke though. And she still had the one crack in her front windshield (which she hadn¡¯t paid to get fixed) as proof some of it had happened.
Alexis went to get another sip of her coffee, but realized her mug was empty. But if she went to grab another cup Aabria would probably tell her that Alexis was over doing it and that it was probably best enjoyed sparingly.
She kept scrolling through Clogger with her right hand, but with no coffee to drink, her left hand left to idly play with her hair.
Something she considered earlier this morning, was that maybe something happened to her on Friday that was so traumatic that it caused her to disassociate or something. But it was hard to imagine what she would even do if that was the case. Seek therapy?
So for now she was just going to act as though she only had the mental issues her doctor had diagnosed her as having. This seemed like the safest bet.
Option 2, there is something wrong with my talent. She rated this a lot lower. But the rules governing her talent being in some sort of constant flux could explain why there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone around when weird stuff started to happen to her.
However she felt it was only possible for her talent to radically change like that if she had done something strange with it. And the thing was, Alexis avoided using her talent. Not just because the trigger condition meant she had to be in danger, which she was already uncomfortable with, but that whenever it did activate it brought a lot of traumatic memories with it.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
The only thing that was atypical about her and her talent would have been her lack of talent usage compared to the average psychic. There was not a lot of information about what happens when you don''t use your talent for a while. There were a lot of articles which suggested that the more you used it the stronger or more versatile it got. But that was probably a quirk in the way scientific news got shared online, because if a study showed not using your talent in a while did absolutely nothing that probably didn¡¯t merit making that many headlines.
Wouldn''t exactly gonna get that many clicks.
She decided to research it though, she found a lot of people asking the same thing on this site called Roomr. Mostly it was people asking who were in pretty rare situations. Like having a talent that only affected a specific object where the object was lost or destroyed. Or cases where an automatic talent¡¯s trigger condition was too hyper specific to be usable.
These were just quirks of how awakenings worked in practice. The common example people gave was if you have someone who wants to reach a tall shelf to grab a box of cereal and they awaken their talent. The talent they awakened could take a lot of forms:
- They get general telekinesis, maybe with the strength depending on how hungry they are when they use it.
- They get control over boxes.
- They get control over boxes of new limited edition Choco-nana flavored Yummy Flakes cereal. In which case, they would have to use methods Alexis didn¡¯t quite understand to broaden out the targeting to get it to work on other things too before the cereal ran out of stock.
- They get an automatic talent which has the trigger condition of activating only when something is out of reach on a tall shelf.
- And sometimes they get a talent that works on just that one box of cereal.
Though the consensus on what happens to people in the latter two situations were pretty mixed according to the site she was reading now. Some users claimed that if you didn¡¯t use your talent it would most likely go away, citing the articles about using a talent strengthening it. Technically that¡¯s an inverse error, just because A leads to B, doesn¡¯t mean the opposite of A leads to the opposite of B.
Alexis¡¯s hand began to loosely tug on a knot in her hair, untangling it. She deposited the loose strains next to her laptop.
Others on the post were debunking the first group of users by citing their lived experiences. One user even stated that they went a year of not triggering their talent¡¯s condition and if anything it had seemed stronger. This lined up with what Alexis had experienced on Friday, with the talent deploying to its full effect. The notion that was gonna keep getting stronger no matter what she did made Alexis uncomfortable though.
No one on either side of the argument was claiming that their talent changed after not using it for a while.
She tried to look up why a talent might change on its own, but all the results were about people recommending ways she could ¡®5 ways to upgrade your talent today!¡¯ And the articles themselves contained a lot of buzzwords like ¡®Anchor Theory¡¯ and ¡®Perception Training¡¯, which she had less than no interest in learning anything about. The gist seemed that changing a talent was something you had to deliberately work pretty hard at, not something which could just happen on its own.
The only other thing that would change her talent that Alexis could think of is if she had a second Awakening. But forgetting how unlikely (and cursed) it would be to hit the odds twice, she still could dismiss this out of hand because a psychic always felt it the moment they were awakened.
So for now, this was a dead-end.
Lastly, Option 3, a psychic is behind all this. She rated this the highest odds, because it was clear a psychic was involved in at least the car being destroyed on Friday. Instead of focusing on the question of who like she had earlier, she tried to figure out the how.
So first was the question how she never saw the person.
A psychic being able to bend light to become invisible was within the realm of possibility. She didn¡¯t fully grasp the science of how light hits people¡¯s eyes but she figured it messing with that deliberately was probably too complicated a process for a psychic to do manually, which meant that the talent would have to be automatic.
She could even imagine situations which could awaken a talent like that, like someone desperately wanting to be unseen and awakening a talent that would let them do that.
But she also never heard anyone either. She only ever heard the effects of their actions, like the sound of her car¡¯s window shattering, or the rocks hitting the windshield. This could at least be explained because of the sound of her car¡¯s engine running on Friday, and the sound of the shower this morning, giving them partial cover.
What this didn¡¯t explain though was how they could tear through a car. The way it had even looked was closer to invisible claws or like giant hands mashing clay. Not something a regular invisible person could do.
Her hands began to peel apart a split end in her hair. At some point her leg had also become restless.
The thought that Alexis kept coming back ever since Friday wasn¡¯t invisibility, but that it was just a strong talent with long range. This made the most sense, and could even explain some of her assailant''s odd behavior. Like maybe they couldn¡¯t see that well and attacked the car next to hers as a mistake. But if the goal had been to attack her, it wouldn¡¯t make sense why it bothered throwing rocks and locking her out of her car.
Still, the ability being strong but long range made the most sense, even if the exact parameters of it were still unclear to Alexis at this point.
She felt satisfied with that answer, even though that meant there was probably someone either in or near her condo waiting for her. Or who may even potentially be following her.
But with as much uncertainty as she had, locking down the most likely means and method still felt like a huge win.
¡°You had me worried there for a bit.¡± Aabria said, which caused Alexis to flinch. Alexis noticed the pile of reddish-auburn hair that had accumulated next to her laptop. Got way too lost in thought there.
¡°Sorry dear, it¡¯s just you had a smirk on your face, it''s the same one you get after you play our little detective game.¡± Aabria clarified.
¡°Oh, yeah. I guess I did just figure something out.¡± Alexis said.
¡°That¡¯s really good to hear.¡± Aabria said. She flashed her a warm smile. It was inviting enough that it made Alexis wonder if maybe she really could help. Fuck it.
¡°Hey, Aabria, you are heading out soon right?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°4pm on the dot, same as always.¡± Aabria answered.
¡°Do you mind if I walk you to your car? There is something I have been meaning to tell you.¡± Alexis asked.
Aabria seemed taken a little bit aback by this, but agreed. Alexis wasn¡¯t certain how much she was gonna tell her, and if she did, how much she would be putting her in danger. But Alexis knew that Aabria was one of the few people she could trust. And in her current situation, that was one of the few certainties she had.
Ch 16. Coming Out
15:40. Monday, December 4th, 2023. Harmon Town Hall.
It was funny how the simple act of requesting a private conversation in the future had a way of making all of the time before that conversation excruciatingly awkward.
Alexis still had twenty minutes before Aabria clocks out. Being aware of the ticking clock of her conversation with Aabria though made Alexis think about her other ticking clock for when Town Hall shuts down.
She wasn¡¯t exactly safe going home. She knew that she was probably okay as long as she wasn¡¯t alone, especially since nothing had happened to her at work.
Alexis texted Jen and asked if she could come over, she didn¡¯t receive an answer but she probably could bank on a yes. And if not her, she could probably go to her grandma or dad¡¯s house.
Jen would be ideal though because whenever I am over we end up just sharing her bed.
With how comforting the idea was to her in the moment, the notion crossed Alexis¡¯s mind that she was acting more like a kid who just had a nightmare rather than an adult afraid for her life.
She tried to banish the thought by focusing more on her work. She still hadn¡¯t done any research yet about the Costume Game. And who knew? Maybe she would get lucky and find out that maybe what was happening to her was connected to it in some way.
Alexis was doubtful though, as much as the Sobol brothers seemed to believe for some reason it was a real threat to Harmon¡¯s public safety, Alexis couldn¡¯t see how.
With things like Comic Book Syndrome, it made sense. When people were uncertain they turned to the media for escape, and of course some people would take those escapist fantasies with them into their lives. Even Alexis was guilty of this from time to time when she larped as a master detective whenever debunked a ghost story with Aabria.
But a fifteen year-old psychic acting like they were a chosen one was one thing, but them dressing up to fight people was a whole other question. Sure, Alexis has heard of that happening, but she couldn¡¯t see how there would be enough people who would be into it that it would cause a small town like Harmon any problems.
But she was less sure if it existed in Midport. And she was genuinely curious to learn more about what it was even like.
It didn¡¯t take long for her to find more information on Roomr. Roomr tended to have the answers one was looking for so long as one was willing to trust the words of strangers on the internet.
Though Alexis didn¡¯t have an account, she did find herself using the site often. It was a news aggregation-site and forum structured around different pages called ¡®rooms¡¯. By default, posts were sorted by age and amount of comments it received (called whispers).
To counterbalance spamming comments on your own post, there were some pretty strict rules regarding how many times one could comment in succession. And to encourage engagement, there was a strict button one could press which would automatically post a default message of one five different pictures.
The ¡®room¡¯ which seemed to correspond to the costume game was ¡°/room/RealWorldSupers¡±.
After opening the page, Alexis was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of activity. There was everything from caped heroes fighting crime to caped heroes being arrested for destruction of property while fighting crime. Which, honestly? Fair.
The thing that shocked her though was just how many people were actively posting content related to this. There were even self-proclaimed villains who were posting about their evil schemes and their victories over local heroes. Sure some of these ¡®villains¡¯ seem harmless, but posting here seems like a good way of getting yourself arrested.
There was also a lot of mundane stuff. One person was asking the best method for making a costume with a lot of metal to better synergize with their talent. The answer was apparently to use a lot of chainmail.
Another person, who was clearly engagement farming, had asked which super villain had the best name. There were a lot of whispers on that post, with people arguing pretty intensely about it. If people ever get into a real fight on here, does it ever lead to a fight IRL?
Alexis checked the pinned post, which was a directory of related rooms and the main rules.
- No hate speech. Follow Roomr¡¯s terms of service and be civil, just because you¡¯re evil doesn¡¯t mean you get to be a jerk!
- No politics. Exceptions may be made but baiting for engagement will not be tolerated.
- No doxxing and no unmasking. If you want to reveal your arch-nemesis¡¯s face to the world, do it somewhere else.
- No gore, No NSFW.
- No recruiting, no plotting, and limit any self-promotion outside of the weekly threads. If you want to get people to join your group or start a new scheme outside of that, try going to your area¡¯s specific RWS room.
- No reporting anyone without first messaging mods.
- Untagged posts will be auto-deleted.
- Read the newbie guide before posting questions.
Alexis couldn¡¯t help but smile to herself. Even with supposed super heroes, guess you always have the same old internet.
Underneath the rules she found the newbie guide the rules were referring to as well as a bunch of related rooms. There were rooms for heroes, villains, and even people who wanted to discuss politics (which was ¡°/room/RWS_Politics¡±).
Then a bunch of for different geographical locations. She clicked and opened the newbie guide in another tab so she could read it later and pulled up the room for her region, which was labeled as ¡°/room/RWS_NewEngland¡±.
She clicked the link. It was still surprisingly active, she expected the activity level to drop off after she left the main RealWorldSupers room. She ran a search for Harmon.
¡°Sorry! No good gossip here. Your search in /room/RWS_NewEngland for ¡®Harmon¡¯ turned up 0 results in! Search all of Roomr?¡±
Man not even in a comment? Well fitting.
It made sense though, Harmon was a small town. Nobody really cares about messing with it. She searched for Midport instead. And clicked the option to sort by age.
¡°You haven¡¯t heard what they are saying in /room/RWS_NewEngland about ¡®Midport¡¯? Everybody¡¯s talking about it!! Here¡¯s just a taste of what they are saying¡¡±
- Anyone hear how the Graveyard Bash fight went? NEW!
-
- By guardfrombladefighter[NonCostumed]
-
- 5 Whispers / Text Post / [Tagged ¡®Midport¡¯]
-
- 84 Whispers / Text Post / [Tagged ¡®Midport¡¯, ¡®Serious¡¯, ¡®Help¡¯ ]
- An Official Challenge to Graveyard Bash
-
- By midportMessenger[Hero]
-
- 10 Whispers / Text Post / [Tagged ¡®MOTW¡¯, ¡®Challenge¡¯, ¡®Midport¡¯]
- Check out my latest video!
-
- 2 Whispers / Link / [Tagged ¡®SelfPromo¡¯, ¡®Midport¡¯]
- ¡°Self-Proclaimed ¡®Villains¡¯ Put On Haunted House for Charity¡±
-
- 54 Whispers / Link / [Tagged ¡®News¡¯, ¡®Graveyard_Bash¡¯, ¡®Midport¡¯]
Oh there actually does actually seem to be a lot of stuff. That is¡ Concerning¡
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The first one didn¡¯t have any useful information, just asking about how a recent fight went. The only real comment was ¡°If it had ended any differently than usual, we probably would have heard something by now.¡± With the other four comments using the default agreement comment.
The second one was a comment from someone who had recently gotten into the Costume Game, showing some real concern for someone called ¡®Juggler¡¯, who may or may not have an unstable living situation. There was a lot of debate about it though. Especially because Juggler was supposed to be a hero and the original poster was apparently a henchman?
She would have to spend a lot of time reading up on it before the SGV meeting. Before she knew it however, Aabria was packing up her stuff.
16:02. Monday, December 4th, 2023. Harmon Town Hall Parking Lot.
¡°So what did you want to talk to me about?¡± Aabria asked, as the two walked to her car.
Alexis hadn¡¯t actually decided how much she was going to tell her. It was hard to even tell how much of the situation was even worth telling. So to buy herself some time she decided to completely pivot.
¡°Okay, well, I just wanted to thank you for always making work bearable, I really appreciate it.¡±
¡°Of course dear, it is what I am here for. But I assume that isn¡¯t what¡¯s been bothering you.¡± Aabria said.
Well no, of course not.
¡°And I wanted to let you know¡¡± Alexis paused.
Shit, what can I pivot to?
¡°You wanted to let me know¡¡± Aabria said.
Wait, how long have I paused for? We are almost at her car! Gotta say something!
¡°I¡¯m uh¡ I¡¯m gay!¡± Alexis came out. Welp, that is something!
Alexis couldn¡¯t exactly tell what was going through Aabria¡¯s head, but for Alexis the words just sort of spilled out of her.
¡°Anytime I have mentioned going out with someone, it was with a girl not a boy, and I just let you think it was a guy because I didn¡¯t want people to know I am lesbian at work because being a psychic is enough right? But then you ended up being really cool and I felt really awkward letting you know till now. And now I think someone might kill me so I may never get the chance to tell you and--¡±
¡°Hold on, kill you?¡±
Uh oh, too many words. Definitely let too many words out.
¡°Yeah. I uh, have been kind of freaking out about it. But also it may not even be real!¡±
¡°Okay, one second.¡± Aabria took out her phone and fiddled with it for a second. It gave Alexis a moment to catch her breath which was nice.
¡°Sorry, I just wanted to let my husband know I was going to be late. Before I get into any of the details I just want to say thank you for what you said, you shouldn¡¯t feel guilty for not telling me, it is your business after all.¡±
¡°Oh thanks, and uh, sorry for dumping this all on you.¡± Alexis said, doing her best not to tear up. She hadn¡¯t realized how much she was burying her feelings until now.
¡°Just walk me through what happened, are you okay with that?¡± Aabria asked. Alexis nodded.
It took a while to explain everything, with Aabria asking the occasional clarifying question. Alexis skipped over part about her talent activating. When Alexis was about to explain more of her thoughts on it, Aabria.
¡°You do know what this sounds like, right?¡± Aabria said.
¡°No¡ What?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°It sounds like you are being haunted.¡± Aabria said.
Alexis almost laughed. ¡°What? No. Aabria, now isn¡¯t the time for ghost stories, I am serious.¡±
¡°I am being serious too. A bunch of mysterious things start happening to you that you can¡¯t explain. Sounds like a ghost to me.¡±
Alexis was honestly stunned into science. She knew Aabria liked the supernatural, but didn¡¯t think the belief ran this deep.
¡°Aabria, that doesn¡¯t make sense. Even if I accept that as true, why would a ghost be after me?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Why would a super powerful psychic be after you and only mess with your keyboard?¡± Aabria said.
¡°I¡ Huh¡¡± Alexis said.
¡°Listen dear, I can¡¯t make heads or tails of this either, maybe you are catastrophizing or not. If you really feel unsafe you can always go to the police, even if I know that makes you uncomfortable.¡± Aabria said.
¡°Wait, I never said I don''t like cops?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Alexis, dear, you aren¡¯t exactly a smooth operator. When you are nervous you like to play with your hair.¡± Aabria said.
¡°How do you know I wasn¡¯t just anxious? How do you know it''s because I don¡¯t like them?¡± Alexis asked. She started to stroke her hair.
¡°I didn¡¯t know until you told me, dear.¡± Aabria clarified.
¡°Wait¡ Oh.¡± Alexis said. She replayed the last part of the conversation in her head again.
¡°I don¡¯t want to make you paranoid. People really do like you dear, you do good work, but you clearly get a little bit in your head. And I am certain if anyone can figure this out, it¡¯s you.¡± Aabria said.
¡°Thanks Aabria, that actually makes me feel a lot better.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Of course, and if you do decide it¡¯s a ghost, let me know because I have an exorcist on speed dial!¡±
Aabria had to go home after that. But opening up helped Alexis feel like she was in a lot less immediate danger. Aabria had been right, if she couldn¡¯t handle this on her own she could just go to the police, even if the idea made her uncomfortable.
But this just raised the question of if she did feel comfortable. After all, the last place she had been before this went down was the HPD. And Aabria had shown they would have a motive too, because Alexis wasn¡¯t as secretive with her feelings as she thought.
Maybe one of them followed me after I left on Friday.
If this was the case, someone in the room she gave the presentation to was secretly an unregistered psychic. Which if true was pretty bad. A psychic cop was bad, but a psychic cop who was also specially coming after her made her more than a little terrified.
Or it would if she was still Alexis, and not Detective Driscol!
This was her other take away from her conversation with Aabria, which was that Alexis was good at figuring situations like this, she just needed to act like she did when she played detective and try to look at the bigger picture.
Afterall, she already had everything she needed to prove if it was a member of the HPD already available to her.
Her first piece of evidence were the photos that Goodman sent her. She pulled out the email and thankfully, the photo sharing service he used kept the original metadata.
Her next piece of evidence involved pulling up her bank¡¯s transaction history. With this she would know exactly when she had gone to Duncan¡¯s Coffee. She then started to cross reference the two which gave her a way more precise timeline of the day¡¯s events.
With this, she could conclude all of the people who were in that room were accounted for well after the incident with the car on Friday. Honestly, this makes the most sense, half the people in that room like Chief Sobol and his brother are probably past the cut off point to be psychics anyway.
Psychic¡¯s only started to awaken ten years ago, and awakening can only happen at age fifteen to twenty-five. So that meant the oldest psychics were still in their 30s, way below the average age for the HPD.
This technically left the younger members of the HPD who didn¡¯t attend still viable suspects, but if Alexis was still feeling paranoid later (which she probably would be) she could always check the police records online. Afterall, most probably didn¡¯t attend because they were out on patrol.
With this, she could prove that at least she would with certainty be safe going to the cops.
But Alexis wasn¡¯t done yet. She knew she could figure this out. She just needed one more piece of evidence.
To get it though, she would just need to take a risk. And for once in her life, she was happy she had in case things go south.
Ch 17. A Skeptic鈥檚 S茅ance (Part 1)
17:03. Monday, December 4th, 2023. Harmon Town Hall.
Alexis had a lot of coffee that Monday. So many cups she had long since lost count. And coffee had a way of sneaking up on her. So after clearing the HPD she couldn¡¯t hold it in and had to go to the bathroom. Before she left she wrote a note and left it and the pen she wrote it with on her desk.
I should really consider getting my caffeine fix from chocolate, I hear it doesn¡¯t have this issue.
When she got back she checked on the status of her note. She couldn¡¯t help but smirk a little.
A lot could be said for thinking of one¡¯s life as a story or a game. Alexis gave teenage psychics a lot of guff for having Comic Book Syndrome, but she could see how thinking of one as invincible chosen one¡¯s probably helped them take risks they wouldn¡¯t otherwise do.
It helped that most teenagers didn¡¯t need a lot of help in thinking they were invincible anyway.
Alexis never got it, even when she first got her talent when she was fifteen. It was one of those things that kept her separated from other psychics. If anything she saw herself as lesser.
But there was one escape she had to feel like she could be confident, maybe even a little cocky, and that was when she was playing detective with Aabria.
Aabria wasn¡¯t the only one who she played games with.
It started when her dad would lose his keys before work. This was back when her parents were still together, when she was six years old or so. Her mom had made a game of it, they never had a name for it, but her mom would play the role of Sherlock and little Lexie got to be Watson.
Lexie looked up to her mom back then. And she remembered how much her mom beamed when Lexie had once been the one to find them. Alexis can¡¯t remember what she had said that would have been that impressive. Especially looking back, there weren¡¯t even stakes to the situation because Alexis now knew her mom had spare keys made in case her dad was ever going to run late because of it.
But Lexie didn¡¯t know that, all she knew was that her mom had said she had a ¡®knack¡¯ for ¡®deductive reasoning¡¯.
They had weekly game nights too, and Lexie¡¯s favorites were always the jigsaws because she had read a book and learned the trick everyone who does those kinds of puzzles a lot learns about starting with the corners.
And even if she never did figure out how to do those three by three puzzle cubes, she had a spherical one her dad gave her that she became really good at. And she got to feel smug when the smart kid in class, Erik, couldn¡¯t figure it out. Lexie could even make patterns out of it and had practiced making it look easy to do.
When her class had a phase where they became obsessed with lollipops with riddles written on the stem got really popular. The way it was supposed to work was the center was always filled with like, nougat, cream, chocolate, or caramel and you didn¡¯t know what it was gonna be, but it was designed so that if you fully finished the candy you could see the answer to the riddle. The theme or gimmick or whatever was inside was supposed to be a surprise.
The thing was, they didn¡¯t do a good job at it, and you couldn¡¯t always read the answer to the riddle. So a lot of kids wouldn¡¯t know the answer, so they would pester Lexie because she always knew if the answer was correct. What the other kids didn¡¯t know is that she had begged her Grandma to buy as many of them as she could get away with and had spent multiple nights memorizing all of the answers.
Still, mysteries, puzzles, riddles, they were always the place where Lexie got to feel comfortable. Where other kids would actually want to talk to her. This was her thing.
Looking back, Alexis thought that the pride she took in always trying to be clever was actually cringy. But at least Lexie was confident about it. And if she was gonna pull off this plan, she needed that confidence, the confidence she had when she played Detective Driscoll.
gay nerd (Alexis.Driscoll): Hey Jen change of plans, wanna come over to my place? I am doing a seance. lol
Bestie (female_himbo): omg, u? is this a prank??
gay nerd (Alexis.Driscoll): No. This is serious. It may even be dangerous? But I thought you may be down. Either way, I need to borrow your divination board.
Bestie (female_himbo): lex
Bestie (female_himbo): u literally hate ghosts!
gay nerd (Alexis.Driscoll): I never hated them. I just did not believe they existed.
Bestie (female_himbo): k *skull emoji*
Bestie (female_himbo): u once told me ¡°If you hear scratching in the walls at night, don¡¯t call an exorcist, call an exterminator.¡±
Bestie (female_himbo): thats a copy paste from my notes app btw
gay nerd (Alexis.Driscoll): Okay, but are you still down?
Bestie (female_himbo): ya sure wat time?
As she received the text, she tried to keep her hands from shaking. It¡¯s okay Alexis, stay cool, this could still go really bad for you, but maybe it will be fine.
She wrote another note, this one a lot longer, with a new pen because her previous one was broken. Thankfully she had an abundance of low quality pens on her desk.
¡°That is weird, does anyone else keep hearing that snapping sound?¡± Cathy, Aabria¡¯s boss, asked. It was just her and one other person who would both be going home soon.
¡°Oh it is just my headphones, sorry.¡± Alexis lied.
If this plan was going to work, Alexis still had some errands she would need to run. So she printed out a cheat sheet on morse code, shredded the notes, threw out the two broken pens, and clocked out for the day.
18:30. Monday, December 4th, 2023. Alexis¡¯s condo.
Alexis had to floor it to get back home and if she wanted to have everything ready before the agreed upon time. But the trip to the hardware store went longer than she expected. When she got there she immediately set to work.
Though she thought of it as hers, it wasn¡¯t technically Alexis¡¯s condo, it actually belonged to her and her mom¡¯s. It was just that her mom stayed with her gram so Alexis had the run of the place. But that meant she still had a lot of her mom¡¯s stuff here and there was a good chance some of it might break. All probably need Jen¡¯s help moving a lot of this.
Instead, the first thing Alexis did was check the lock on the door. Alexis didn¡¯t know the first thing about lockpicking, but she figured there would be some signs of tampering if it was forcibly opened. But there weren¡¯t any that she could see. She suspected that if someone spent a lot of time picking the lock on the front door that her neighbors might have said something.
Next she checked all of the windows and sure enough, none of them were opened. It was chilly out, so of course that made sense.
Last was the chimney. Alexis had an older brick chimney, it was actually one of the main draws when they were picking places to live. Alexis never used it though, so she had a fake fireplace in front of it that was electric.
Sure enough however, when she walked outside to see it the cap was gone. She would probably find it in the backyard somewhere. And when flashed the shiny new lantern she bought inside the chimney, of course she didn¡¯t see any signs of entry. There weren¡¯t even signs of soot around the fireplace. But hey, what do you know the fake fireplace was still clearly moved.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
She took pictures of all of it. At least with this, she had enough evidence to go to the cops if she really needed to and not sound crazy.
But that wasn¡¯t her plan.
Knocking on the door, a little late, was Jen.
¡°Hey girlie, I got the game you asked for!¡± Jen said.
¡°Great, I meant what I said earlier though, this really might be dangerous.¡± Alexis warned.
¡°And miss out on a real live ghost sighting!? High school Jen would go ballistic!¡± Jen insisted.
Jen had apparently really gone through a huge ghost phase in high school. But when Alexis found out, she was a lot meaner about it than she was with Aabria.
¡°It probably isn¡¯t actually a ghost, but I thought you might appreciate the framing.¡± Alexis said.
¡°See that sounds like the Lex I know!¡± Jen said. ¡°But if it¡¯s not a ghost, why¡¯d you need me to bring the board?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll explain it, but first can you help me tie things down? Also, the planchette might break during this. I hope that is cool.¡± Alexis said.
¡°I can think of no more fitting an end for the centerpiece of so many sleepovers. But seriously, I am getting antsy so start spilling deets.¡± Jen said.
¡°Okay okay. Jeez don¡¯t rush. There is supposed to be a process for this.¡± Alexis said.
As they started to put things in Alexis¡¯s combined dining room and living room away, she started to explain everything. First with the basic events, but then the juicier part, her speculation.
¡°At first I thought it was trying to kill me. Like weird stuff just kept getting broken. But then when I was talking to Aabria, she pointed out that I didn¡¯t really have a lot of evidence that it was specifically a threat.¡±
They folded up the dining room table, and instead of trying to tie it down, they both carried it to the basement.
¡°You remember her right? Older lady who I play that detective game with?¡±
¡°Yeah¡¡± Jen was pretty out of breath. Alexis probably would be too if she wasn¡¯t so excited to get through all this.
¡°She actually said I have as much evidence of it being a ghost. And that actually had me start thinking like could this be a ghost? Obviously it was silly. Because ghosts aren¡¯t real.¡±
¡°Lex you are literally a psychic!¡± Jen yelled.
¡°I actually had a co-worker say something similar to me the other day. I was kind of upset with him, because it isn¡¯t like I chose to be a psychic. And it is kind of silly we even use that word since it isn¡¯t like we can read minds or see the future.¡± Alexis said.
They started moving the couches and tv into the now empty dining room. They were too heavy to move down the stairs. The dining room part of the shared room was actually next to the kitchen, so this way they could perform the ¡®ritual¡¯ as far away from where Alexis kept her knives as possible.
¡°Lex, baby, I love you but you are getting off track.¡± Jen said.
¡°Oh right, sorry. So anyway, wait where was I?¡± Alexis said.
¡°Idk¡ That it couldn¡¯t be a ghost?¡± Jen said.
¡°Yeah, that. So I had already figured out that it wasn¡¯t someone invisible, and that it was probably someone with some sort of long range talent. But I couldn¡¯t think of anyone who would be after me. I even had evidence it couldn¡¯t be any one of the local cops.¡±
¡°Wait,¡± Jen paused to catch her breath. Alexis went to the kitchen and came back with a water bottle. She opened it and drank a sip. ¡°Why would it be a cop?¡±
¡°Because they may have figured out I don¡¯t like them. And I wanted to be one hundred percent sure it wasn¡¯t one of them in case this turns sour and I need to go 9-1-1.¡± Alexis explained.
¡°That tracks as much as anything else you have said so far.¡± Jen said.
¡°Really? Good because I was wondering if I was losing you. Anyway, once I ruled out that it was the cops for sure, I started to think about how I just needed more data. Like why break my keyboard? What if maybe they¡¯re talent was long range but also hard to control, so they were breaking stuff by accident?¡± Alexis said.
¡°Oh, like maybe it was trying to do other stuff?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Yeah, like what if the keyboard was actually them trying to send me a message? So before I ran to the bathroom I wrote down a piece of paper to not follow me into the bathroom (because that would be creepy) and break the pen I used to write the note if you are friendly.¡± Alexis said.
¡°And what was your plan if it did more than break your pen?¡± Jen asked.
¡°To hide in the bathroom and hope my talent would be enough to save me.¡± Alexis answered honestly.
¡°Lex, that''s awful!¡± Jen chastised.
¡°Yeah, I know, but they hadn¡¯t bothered me all day, so I figured for whatever reason they didn¡¯t want to be caught.¡± Alexis said, defending herself. Plus most people had already gone home at that point.
She thought that, but even she had to admit that was pretty callous. So she was happy she hadn¡¯t said it outloud.
¡°There really wasn¡¯t much of an option, I don¡¯t think that whoever this could be beaten up by anyone except, like, some of the psychics in the FBI. Being able to tear apart a car is no joke.¡± Alexis said.
They started to take down the paintings on the walls and were bringing them downstairs. One was a really nice painting her dad had done of all three of them when they were together that Alexis insisted to her mom she be allowed to keep up.
¡°Anway, what makes you think that they weren¡¯t just lying about being friendly? Seems like a classical horror movie ghost move!¡± Jen said.
¡°That is where the second note came in, it was a lot more involved.¡± Alexis answered.
¡°What¡¯d it say?¡± Jen asked.
¡°It said in no uncertain terms that I am a coward beyond measure. That if this was about money I would happily transfer all of my earthly possessions. That I would do or say whatever they wanted except hurt someone else. That if they wanted me dead with no witness I could be at the nearest cliff whenever they wanted. And that if this wasn¡¯t a trick to just break the pen and meet me back at my house at 7 so we could talk.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Or something like that, I don¡¯t remember all the words.¡± Alexis added.
Jen had stopped dead in her tracks and was just staring at Alexis.
¡°What?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°I just¡ Wow Lex.¡± Jen said.
¡°Too much?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Just like¡ Wow¡ I don¡¯t think I have the words to describe it.¡± Jen said.
¡°I know. But what was I supposed to do? They have all the leverage anyway. And if I knew they just wanted to kill me, I could beg them to let me say goodbye to my loved ones, help sell that it was a suicide or something. Maybe go out with a shred of dignity.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Lex none what you have said in the last, idk, two minutes? However long it has been none of it was the least bit dignified.¡± Jen said.
¡°Well I am not a superhero and I can¡¯t fight. The only thing I could think of so that I could be sure would be to just lay on my back and show them I was nothing but a worm they could step on.¡± Alexis said. Not gonna tell her I named it the coward¡¯s final gambit.
¡°Yeah, but like. Would you have gone through with it?¡± Jen asked. She seemed really worried.
¡°I probably would have tried my best at avoiding it? But like, when a powerful psychic is at play, not like you can do much.¡± Alexis said, a tad bitterly. It was hard for her not to go back to the day she awakened her talent, so to keep her mind off it, she started to lock the kitchen drawers up with zip ties. I hope the damage doesn¡¯t get that far but it is better to be safe than sorry.
¡°Anyway I haven¡¯t put the pieces all together yet, there are some theories I am still working on though. Anything you wanted to know about before we get started?¡± Alexis said.
¡°No, I think I am good. Honestly, besides the note, surprised you aren¡¯t freaking out more about all this.¡± Jen said.
¡°I started to think of this less of my life that is happening, and more like a puzzle I am solving, which weirdly helps.¡±
¡°Sounds more like you¡¯ve been dissociating, the way you''ve been talking about all this sounds like it''s a tv show you watch than your actual life.¡± Jen said. ¡°Maybe you have that Anime Syndrome thing you told me about.¡±
¡°Comic Book Syndrome. And yeah, more than likely at this point.¡± Alexis said.
She set down the tarp in the living room. She and Jen then started to lay out the fake candles in a circle. They were probably just gonna fall over anyway but Alexis bought them because if you are doing a seance you should at least commit to the bit.
¡°Okay before you put the board down, mind if I take the lead on asking questions?¡± Alexis requested.
¡°Kk.¡± Jen agreed.
¡°Oh, and one more thing.¡± Alexis said. She pulled out safety goggles and the bicycle helmet she bought, and offered it to her.
¡°What! No. Not happening!¡± Jen protests.
¡°It¡¯s for safety! I don¡¯t want you getting hurt. And literally every interaction I have had so far with this person has indicated they either have trouble controlling their powers or just like breaking things.¡± Alexis pleaded.
¡°Fine, but this totally ruins the mood.¡± Jen said. Putting on the safety gear.
¡°Trust me, when stuff starts flying, you will be happy you have them.¡± Alexis said. And in solidarity, put on a pair of goggles of her own.
Ch. 18. A Skeptic鈥檚 S茅ance (Part 2)
19:00. Monday, December 4th, 2023. Alexis¡¯s Condo.
Alexis held Jen¡¯s hand. It was supposed to be for cool flavor, like they were summoning an evil spirit. Part of the whole seance package. But it ended up feeling more like a cry for reassurance.
And she would need all the reassurance she could get, because to get through this she would probably activate, and more than a few times.
¡°Stay close to me, okay?¡± Alexis said. Again, it was supposed to be a cool thing to say, but Alexis was shaking and Jen seemed fine. Is she really okay with this if it meant she got to see a ghost? Does Jen have Comic Book Syndrome or does she really think will just protect her as long as she is nearby.
Alexis had never tested the limits of , she had no idea if it would even activate for anyone else, since it didn¡¯t even activate for Alexis half the time.
Some people got talents that were basically an extra limb. Alexis had a talent that was basically a glorified trauma response. Mentally preparing herself to use it with some knowledge in advance made it a bit easier. Which was a trick a lot of people had. Something she learned about from the ample content warnings that people on Clogger used.
I¡¯m not here right now. I am Detective Driscoll on the case. Detective Driscoll is a good person, she is calm, she is cool, and she is too focused on the case to care about what happened when she was fifteen.
So Alexis tried her best to focus on the case. One thing that Alexis had wanted to test was if her assailant¡¯s talent could go through walls. If it did have a limit like that, it meant the distance could afford to be a lot longer. But more importantly, it meant that it could be trapped.
She had basically confirmed that the talent had entered from the chimney on her earlier inspection, to be sure though she had moved the fake fireplace back to see if the talent would move it again. Alexis got her answer when the fake fireplace flew straight at them.
Jen Alexis huddled together and her talent activated, the fake fireplace hitting ¡¯s wings with a small puff before plopping down onto the tarp with a much louder ¡®cling-clung¡¯ sound. She started hyperventilating.
She is calm, she is cool, and she is too focused on the case to care about the past.
She repeated the mantra to herselves a few more times. It might have been worse if Jen got hurt, or it hadn¡¯t activated at all. Everytime she felt a little braver and that it was a little more true.
¡°Lex, you¡¯re muttering.¡± Jen whispered into her ear.
¡°Sorry. She is--sorry I am calm. Now. I am calm now.¡± Alexis stammered.
Jen nodded. The detective needed to focus on the case. And she had just got some important evidence. The fireplace getting moved again meant that the assailant¡¯s talent had not actually been in the room with them the whole time. This meant she wasn¡¯t able to test the other thing she wanted to test, but that would come soon on its own.
The planchette on the board started to move. It was the moment of truth.
[¡°H-E-Y-S-O-R-R-Y¡±]
¡°Are they trying to apologize? Why did the makers of the board not think of having an area to let ghosts separate out words, anyway?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Because even they don¡¯t think ghosts are real.¡± Alexis said half-heartedly. She was too busy thinking of how to respond to this. The assailant was sorry? For which part? Why?
Before she could answer though, the planchette started to move again on its own.
[¡°C-A-N-T-H-E-A¡±]
The planchette hit the wall, shattering to a million pieces.
¡°Oh fair planchette you served me well.¡± Jen said, somberly. ¡°WTF is Canthea though?¡±
¡°I am guessing it means they can¡¯t hear?¡± Alexis answered. This wasn¡¯t that huge a leap though. When she started to think of the limitations for a talent like this, it made sense they wouldn¡¯t give them every sense. And they never seemed to react whenever she had called out to them. They only ever reacted to the note.
However, with the planchette gone, the person on the other end of the talent was clearly restless having destroyed their only source of communications. The board and candles went flying.
Most candles hit the wall, a few hit the couches that were now in the dining room. One last hit the TV. Please don¡¯t be broken later.
Thankfully they avoided needing to test their luck with a second time. And also thankfully, Alexis had a backup plan.
She waved her arms in the air until the assailant had calmed down, then she took out the morse code cheat sheet she printed and the new lantern she bought.
And also, she brought out two white boards, one for her and one for Jen.
¡°Use this please.¡± Alexis wrote, and pointed at the lantern. She held the position for a while to make sure they could see. Then after she demonstrated how to use it.
The lantern was sturdy. The man at the hardware store said it was the one that was the hardest to break that they had. It was shaped kind of like an hourglass, with the light in the middle, and to turn it on you just had to press the button in the middle.
Alexis demonstrated it with a simple message. Four dots, then two dots.
[¡°HI¡±]
It took a while for the lantern to flash anything back.
[¡°IIEY¡±]
They had messed up the timing and put a space in the middle of the ¡®H¡¯. So instead of ¡®H¡¯, it was ¡®I¡¯ twice in a row. They needed to be able to see what they were saying if they were gonna be able to communicate.
Reluctantly, Alexis pulled out her phone and opened the right app she needed. She just hoped the case she had was as strong as it claimed because there was a good chance it would go flying.
The app she opened was MorseMore, which was an app for morse code enthusiasts. It had two main functions. One was more of a game, in which you solved morse code related puzzles with new ones coming out daily which Alexis was obviously drawn to. And a translator which worked with either of your phone¡¯s cameras, which before now Alexis never had cause to use.
That part was mostly targeted at larpers, you could flash a light at it and it would spell what you were saying.
Morse code wasn¡¯t actually all that hard to learn for Alexis though, she was already good at memorizing patterns if she practiced enough.
¡°Try it again. This will let you see what you are saying. Just so you know eight dots means you need to start over.¡± Alexis wrote on her board.
[¡°MTTA¡±]
¡°What are they saying?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Right now? Not much.¡± Alexis responded. She guessed they were trying to say ¡°ok¡±, but their timing was even worse than before.
¡°Start with individual letters.¡± Alexis wrote on her board. ¡°Let¡¯s have ¡®C¡¯ mean ''correct¡¯ or ¡®yes¡¯ and ¡®N¡¯ mean ¡®no¡¯, okay?¡±
Using ¡®C¡¯ instead of ¡®Y¡¯ also made it less confusing if they were saying the word ¡®why¡¯. Alexis explained the system so she could follow along.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°Okay, then first question. Are you a psychic?¡± Alexis wrote. She was gonna still believe the answer was ¡®yes¡¯ no matter what, but this helped establish a baseline for what they believed.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°Great, next question. Are you a man?¡± Alexis wrote.
[¡°N¡±]
¡°Are you a woman?¡± Alexis wrote.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°Can you tell us your name? Feel free to try spelling it out.¡± Alexis wrote.
.--. .- --
¡°What¡¯d she say?¡± Jen asked.
¡°She said it''s Pam.¡± Alexis responded.
They had a little bit of back and forth after that. Mostly serving to confirm that it was the same Pam that Alexis had met, and that Pam had also been the one who tore up the car on Friday and broke the mirror and keyboard this morning.
Currently Pam was practicing her letters so she could try to make longer sentences. She was making pretty good progress, with only the occasional break to smash the lantern at a wall.
Man getting those holes in my wall fixed is gonna cost a fortune, but glad I am getting my money¡¯s worth on the lantern. I hope the man who sold it to me wins the lottery or something.
For now they had a moment to talk.
¡°So you know this dead girl, Lex?¡± Jen asked.
¡°She isn¡¯t dead, and yeah I met her like once.¡± Alexis replied. ¡°I think she did mention having a really hard to control talent, so I guess a lot of this may have been a misunderstanding.¡±
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
¡°What¡¯d you think she wants?¡± Jen asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know, I still don¡¯t understand why she chose to reach out this way.¡± Alexis responded.
¡°Cause dummy, she is a ghost. Can¡¯t exactly text when you''re dead.¡± Jen said.
¡°You know my co-workers never deliberately pick fights about the ghost thing, right?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Yeah, cause they don¡¯t understand how judgy you are about it.¡± Jen said.
¡°I am not judgy, I made fun of you for your ghost phase once and you just won¡¯t let it go.¡± Alexis said.
¡°First, wasn¡¯t a phase, liking sexy ghost hunting shows is forever baby! Second, you told me, and I quote, ¡®wow jen, I had no idea you used to have only two brain cells.¡¯ And when I said that it was mean you went on a whole tirade about it and never apologized. Third, there is literally a ghost smashing a lantern in your living room and you still refuse to believe what is right in front of you.¡± Jen ranted at her.
¡°Okay okay. I am sorry for what I said. I didn¡¯t realize I came across that way. And I am even sorry for some of the things I said afterward like the thing about scratching in the walls.¡± Alexis said.
¡°Apology accepted.¡± Jen replied.
¡°Great, thank you. But with all that said, I still don¡¯t believe Pam is a ghost.¡± Alexis said.
¡°K wiseass, then just ask her then.¡± Jen said.
¡°Maybe I will then.¡± Alexis said. She signaled for Pam to come back to the tarp.
¡°Did you make any good progress?¡± Alexis wrote on her board.
[¡°YES A LIL¡±]
She was a bit slow, but she was typing out full sentences now, which was good. Alexis started to read out her answers so Jen could follow along. As she was about to write down another question though, Jen held up her board with a question of her own.
¡°pam r u ded???¡± Jen wrote.
It was hard to read the facial cues of a floating lantern, but if Alexis guessed she was probably a little taken aback, since the lantern did float back a bit. The response came back a little slower than before.
[¡°MAY BE¡±]
It took a long while, but with a lot of back and forth they were able to get something resembling the full story.
22:52. Wednesday, November 29, 2023. Hoplite Parking Lot.
Pam and a coworker were outside talking. It had been a long shift, so Pam was enjoying a cigarette, Raven Wilds which was her favorite brand. She was talking to a coworker Mikey, who was vaping.
Mikey was a bit younger than Pam, but like her he was a general telekinetic.
¡°I¡¯m telling you Mikey, I talked to a bitch who works for the town and shit, they aren¡¯t supposed to make you use your powers unless they fill out a bunch of forms.¡± Pam said.
¡°I don¡¯t know Pam, they aren¡¯t a huge company but it feels weird they would be doing something illegal. How do you know the person wasn¡¯t mistaken?¡± Mikey asked.
¡°Either way we can¡¯t get in trouble, so it¡¯s all good.¡± Pam answered.
¡°But in school they said we were supposed to register if we wanted to use our talents at work, and I haven¡¯t done that yet. Why wouldn¡¯t we get in trouble?¡± Mikey asked.
¡°Mikey, if we both come forward it will make it easier to prove that they really were forcing us.¡± Pam assured him.
Mikey was still new to his powers, and he had only awakened talent two months ago, at work of all places.
¡°Can I just take the night to think about it?¡± Mikey offered.
¡°Fine, fine. You¡¯ve probably left your ride waiting long enough anyway.¡± Pam said. He has had to ¡®just think about it¡¯ twice now. But at least this conversation had gone better than the last one.
Last time he had insisted it was his fault when a box he had been carrying with his talent broke, even though he was still getting used to his talent. Kid has drunk way too much of the company kool-aid.
Her other plan had been to try to record her manager explicitly saying to use her talent, but the dude was always way too coy about it. And if she wasn¡¯t careful he would probably catch on. I hate this cloak and dagger bullshit, I wish I could just sick
on him.
She finished her cigarette outside and started to walk back to her car. She didn¡¯t like smoking too much in it because she thought it made the car smell too much.
Before she could do that something covered her face while something else wrapped around her neck, lifting her in the air.
She couldn¡¯t see, she was in the air, and whatever was around her neck was choking her.
only ever had one defensive trick, and it was Ghost Shield. She set her talent to target the space around her and attack wildly, then when something like a bullet flew at her it was ripped apart. It was powerful, but she had to set it up deliberately. That weakness hadn¡¯t come up before though because once people thought you were bulletproof, they tended to stop trying to shoot you after a while. Not like they could see it.
For some reason though, this asshole had decided to call her bluff, and now had they had her balls in a vice.
But Pam was still Poltergeist, the Nightmare on Cemetery Lane, the Terror of Fair Hollow, the God Damn Bitch Queen of Graveyard Bash. And you don''t get nicknames that badass unless you had more than one trick up your sleeve.
Poltergeist was the strongest psychic in Midport because of what her talent was.
, which she sometimes called her
in casual conversation because it wasn¡¯t like it had a registered government name anyway, had always felt like a ghost trailing behind her. Never that far though because it had an effective range of a few feet. Smaller range meant more power, classic psychic math.
Controlling her
though, was less like having a spare limb, and more like having a spare body that you had to force to do stuff on your behalf. Thanks to Anchor Theory she had realized that her talent was tied to how pissed she was. The angrier she was, the more her
would listen.
It was kinda like how Pam¡¯s mom used to berate her into doing her chores. But just like Pam doing chores as a kid,
sometimes liked to fuck things up on purpose.
All this meant was that her power sucked shit at doing anything but throwing or breaking things, but in a fight, that didn¡¯t matter. So it didn¡¯t matter if someone had figured out the trick behind Ghost Shield, because there was nothing Pam hated more than being caught off guard.
Think you can beat me with bitch tactics? Just wait till I smash your face into the dirt!
She commanded her
to rip off the thing around her neck. It rapped two of its limbs and began to pull. But for some reason it didn¡¯t come off right away.
rip it off already!
Her
had responded, she could feel it trying. She was mad enough at this point she even tried to rip it off with her hands.
When two psychic talents targeted the same object, there were a lot of factors which decided who would win the tug of war. None of which Pam gave a shit about because if she couldn¡¯t grab something she would just destroy it.
Mentally she screamed at her
to just claw at the fucking thing already.
Another of
¡¯s limitations was it couldn¡¯t target humans, which most talents had, but hers had the extra limitation of not working on anything living, including plants. Went with the whole dead vibe she guessed. But this limitation didn¡¯t just mean her talent was stronger, it meant she was free to use its ability to slash shit without her having to worry about hurting herself or other people, at least when it came to the slashing part.
But when her
used its claws to try to cut Pam free, it didn¡¯t work. Fuck, they must have some kind of shield on whatever their talent targets.
It meant they would be back to the tug of war again unless she could think of something. She was losing consciousness fast, and whatever she did next would probably be her last if it didn¡¯t work.
Thankfully there was a surefire way to win if you were losing a tug of war and couldn''t cut the rope, and that was to just throw a car on your opponent.
Her
had an effective range of only a few feet, but its hard cap was a lot longer. This was something she had worked on to give her an option if she ever had to fight someone who had a range that was a lot longer. It wouldn¡¯t be as strong as when it was in her effective range, but that would be enough. After all, she had felt a rampage coming on.
Pam had never had an official danger level because she was never registered. But she knew hers would be high, around 5 or 6. This wasn¡¯t a brag, iit mostly came down to the fact that her power was already hard to control as is, and less to do with its raw destructive power.
During a rampage a talent would act completely on its own. But that was fine, because she didn¡¯t care how much she destroyed as long as it meant her enemy was gone. She sent her
down as far as it could go and felt the rampage take hold.
Maybe her last gambit may have worked if she had tried it earlier, but for whatever reason it didn¡¯t. Her enemy had completely out classed her.
She wished she had a cool final thought, maybe thinking about her friends. But instead, just as she passed out, she wished she could see the fucker who finally beat her. And with thought, something deep within her changed.
It was a few hours later, Alexis wasn¡¯t sure about the time, but it was definitely starting to become morning. At one point, Alexis had gone to her kitchen to pour her and Jen some coffee. Alexis¡¯s voice was starting to hurt from translating. They were both sitting on couch cushions on the tarp because Alexis still didn¡¯t feel comfortable letting Pan near her kitchen.
¡°Wait. So you are a super villain?¡± Alexis wrote.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°cool!¡± Jen wrote.
¡°No! It isn¡¯t! And you are a part of that Graveyard Bash gang then?¡± Alexis wrote.
[¡°LEADER¡±]
¡°yas! lean in girlboss!¡± Jen wrote.
[¡°LIKE U¡±]
¡°same here girlie!¡± Jen wrote.
¡°I thought girlie was our thing?¡± Alexis wrote. They had gotten into the habit of writing down stuff even when they were just talking to each other so that Pam could still follow the conversation.
¡°girlie is for anybody I like. don¡¯t get jelly!¡± Jen wrote.
¡°Fine. Anyway Pam, so that is when you think you died?¡± Alexis wrote.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°But why did you come to me?¡± Alexis wrote.
[¡°CANT GO HOME AND CANT HURT¡±]
¡°Like you physically can¡¯t go home and don¡¯t want to hurt people?¡± Alexis wrote.
[¡°N¡±]
¡°she probs meant she cant hurt u cuz of ur talent¡± Jen wrote.
[¡°C¡±]
This was weird. Why wouldn¡¯t she be able to go home? And when did she learn about my talent, wasn''t she in the middle of destroying a car when it had activated?
¡°Okay, I know it is pretty late, but I still have a lot of questions if you are okay with that Pam¡± Alexis wrote.
[¡°GETTING TIRED¡±]
¡°ghosts get tired?¡± Jen wrote.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°What happens when you sleep?¡± Alexis wrote. Talents never worked when the user was asleep, it was one of the only hard rules.
[¡°GONE¡±]
¡°Like you disappear?¡± Alexis wrote.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°do u dream?¡± Jen wrote. Why would she dream if she disappears?
[¡°C¡±]
I stand corrected.
¡°Okay, do you want to stay here tonight? I have work tomorrow but I can just clock in from home, does that work for you?¡± Alexis wrote. If she really did disappear it wasn¡¯t much for her to stay the night.
[¡°C¡±]
Alexis wondered where her body was, but if Pam really thought she was dead it made sense that she probably wasn¡¯t worried about that. Alexis could speculate on the mechanics later though.
¡°Jen, what are you doing tomorrow?¡± Alexis wrote. Jen currently worked at a nonprofit in Midport, but for whatever reason her hours were pretty weird. She also had a craft business on the side.
¡°Im gud. I wanna c this thru till the end¡± Jen wrote.
Alexis was really happy that Jen was always so, as she would put it: ride or die.
But still, with many questions still unanswered, Alexis and Jen went upstairs to sleep. One question though, burned at Alexis more than any of the others. And even having Jen next to her, the question couldn¡¯t help but keep her up all night.
Who was it that attacked Pam?
Ch 19. A Friendly Meeting
Summer, 2023. Sherman University.
¡°Sherman University. Founded by the greatest statesman to ever live, Roger Sherman. The one man who signed all of America¡¯s founding documents. A visionary whose memory and ideals were carved into the very brick and mortar of the school itself.¡± The tour guide said.
One girl stared wide eyed at the surroundings. College kids were playing frisbee on the grass. She had been coming to these tours for years, ever since she was a kid. She lived in Midport so it was hard not to be curious about the goings on of the campus that your city was most known for.
But this tour was different. She had recently been accepted so now she looked at University with barely contained anticipation.
¡°We are now entering the main hall,¡± the tour guide continued, ¡°and if you look above us you can see an inscription of one one of Roger Sherman¡¯s most famous quotes: ¡®Government is instituted for those who live under it.¡¯¡±
The girl mouthed along as the tour guide had read the quote. Such wise words.
¡°Perhaps these words were meant to echo the Bible verse Mark 2:27, the old puritan he was. For many years he even taught theology in the school''s very own halls.¡±
She wondered what it would be like to be taught by such a great man.
¡°Truly a more prestigious university may not be found on this Earth. Scions of the elite the world over travel for miles to visit this institution of higher learning, enlightening each new generation just in time for graduation,¡± the tour guide said.
Next he is gonna say the good part. The best part!
¡°But not all students come from such prestigious lineages, every year students from the surrounding city are selected to attend this very school,¡± the tour guide said.
Now he is gonna ask if there is anyone here from Midport!
But the tour guide didn¡¯t ask though. Instead he whispered something to her dad, who then whispered something back. She thought she heard her dad say something about doing it ¡®the normal way¡¯.
¡°Is there anyone here from Midport?¡± the tour guide asked. The girl excitedly put her hand up!
¡°We¡¯re from Midport!¡± the girl said, with as much restraint as she could muster.
¡°That¡¯s great! And are you planning to apply?¡± the tour guide asked. He said it with a smile, but his face twitched a bit.
She nodded. She didn¡¯t want to mention she already got in, because she thought that sounded like she was bragging.
¡°You can tell him you already got in. No one is gonna be mad at you for being happy,¡± her dad encouraged. She looked around for reassurance, but it was just the three of them. Her dad had asked for special accommodations because he was worried about her getting overwhelmed. She was happy he was looking out for her, but she wished he wouldn¡¯t be so overprotective!
After all, once the summer was over she would be on her own anyway!
¡°He is right. And I am really excited. I have been wanting to go here since I was a kid,¡± the girl said.
¡°Well, hope you enjoy your time here,¡± The tour guide said, ¡°I am sure you will make a lot of friends.¡±
¡°I hope so!¡± the girl declared.
19:23 Tuesday, November 28, 2023. Miles Dorm Common Room at Sherman University.
Margaret¡¯s semester was going pretty well. Her freshman classes haven''t been too challenging so far. But most importantly, she found a group of people she really connected to. They were all super nice to her, and she couldn¡¯t be more thankful to have a group of people who were so accepting. (Two of them were even really cute.)
But more than anything, they were all about helping people and making the world a better place!
¡°Stack,¡± Margaret said, raising her hand. This was something she had never heard before, but in meetings her friends taught her that when you want to talk you say ¡®stack¡¯.
¡°Yes?¡± Janice said.
¡°I am confused, why are we attacking Poltergeist?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°In the name of the proletarian revolution! For the cause of Eternal Communism!¡± Marcus announced.
It was the weekly meeting of the main branch of the Revolutionary Alternative Movement (RAM). Formerly the Revolutionary Alternative Caucus (RAC) of the Sherman University Worker Activist Alliance-Youth Division (SUWAAYD). Now just called the Rammers for short. They had to recently switch from bi-weekly to weekly because now that they were independent they had a lot more to do.
¡°Comrade Founder Orwell, please observe some decorum,¡± Janice said. Normally Marcus would be facilitating the meeting, but he passed off facilitating duties to Janice in order to make his latest proposal.
¡°To answer your question, Comrade Lowry, which part is confusing you?¡± Janice asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know, would it be too much to hear it again?¡± Margret asked.
¡°Of course, Comrade Secretary Gibson, could you please have the proposal read out as submitted?¡± Janice requested.
¡°Sure thing,¡± Roman responded.
Roman was a rare Psionic Conjurer. Psionics had the ability to influence machines, while conjurers were a type of general telekinetic whose talent had the properties of real objects. Roman¡¯s talent, , was both. With it he could summon invisible electronics so long as he understood how they worked. Like Margaret, he was here on a scholarship.
She was a little jealous because his talent seemed super useful. One night he even showed her he could use his talent to play videogames by plunging them into a tv. It was super cool!
A voice came from nowhere as one of ¡¯s speakers read aloud the proposal currently on the table.
A Resolution Submitted by Comrade Founder Orwell.
Whereas, Comrade Founder Orwell has had a prophetic vision that the current capitalistic order must fall for the rise of Eternal Communism;
Whereas, the Rammers serve to bring about the rise of eternal communism through overturning;
Whereas, the organization known as ¡®Graveyard Bash¡¯ have become a simple tool for maintaining capitalist hegemony;
And Whereas, by taking out this organization, the Rammers may then supplement them;
Therefore be it Resolved, that the Rammers shall lead a Protracted People¡¯s War in the name of eternal communism against the members of Graveyard Bash;
Be it Further Resolved, that after the Rammers supplant Graveyard Bash the City of Midport shall be the staging ground for the revolution for Eternal Communism.
¡°Em, you don¡¯t understand it because one of his sources is literally ¡®it was revealed to me in a dream¡¯,¡± Addy said. They said the last part with their eyes closed, touching both temples with their hand¡¯s fingers outstretched. Play acting as someone receiving a prophetic vision. Margaret had to stifle a chuckle to not upset Marcus any more than he seemed.
¡°Comrade Huxley please refrain from interjecting,¡± Janice requested.
¡°Sorry, that wasn¡¯t me. I was actually saying what was on Roman¡¯s mind,¡± Addy said.
¡°Wrong, because all I have been thinking about is if PPW was maoist term or not,¡± Roman said.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
On paper, Addy and Marcus weren¡¯t psychic. But Marcus had the ability to see the future, which he called
. Addy, to poke fun at this a little, pretended that they could read minds, which they also called
. It made Margaret laugh but sometimes it could be a little mean.
¡°Very funny but enough distractions though. Comrade Lowry, do you understand the proposal better now?¡± Janice asked.
¡°Sorry, maybe I just don¡¯t grasp the theory of change?¡± Margaret said.
Marcus sighed. ¡°Stack response¡¡± I hope he isn¡¯t mad at me. Margaret shivered.
¡°Proceed, Comrade Founder,¡± Janice said.
¡°Okay, before I was so rudely mischaracterized by a certain comrade, allow me to explain¡¡± Marcus said.
Oh he is just frustrated with Addy. The cold feeling went away.
¡°Though the traitorous reformists in the WAA have chosen to not heed my vision for the oncoming future, this future must come to pass for us to reach a state of Eternal Communism. Poltergeist and her ilk represent a stop gap measure for capitalism to thrive.
¡°What have these so-called enemies of society done with their immense psychic power? Fight against forces of gentrification that plague the city? Take up armed struggle against the occupying forces of the Midport police department? No, none of this. They have all grown fat with victory, and allowed themselves to be tools for capital,¡± Marcus said.
¡°So by keeping out other costumed groups, Poltergeist and Graveyard Bash are aligned with the interests of capital?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°Precisely! Very concisely put Comrade Lowry,¡± Marcus exclaimed. Margaret beamed at the praise.
¡°Stack question,¡± Addy said, raising their hand.
¡°Comrade Huxley,¡± Janice said.
¡°Can I direct the question to the proposal¡¯s author?¡± Addy asked.
¡°Please don¡¯t abuse the privilege if let you,¡± Janice said, a tad exacerbated.
¡°Comrade Atwood, I would never dream of such a thing!¡± Addy said, holding up their hand in their face with mock surprise. They briefly glanced over at Margaret and, maybe hoping to get Margaret to laugh, gave her a quick wink. But all this did was cause her to blush.
¡°I am hoping this is just you getting it out of your system and not the lead in to more jokes.¡± Janice said. Addy shot her some finger guns, which caused Janice to roll her eyes.
¡°Anyway, Comrade Founder,¡± Addy said, clearing their throat and adopting a more serious tone. ¡°You have proposed to take up armed struggle against this supposed ally of capitalism, and though your goals are of course noble and true and all that shit--¡±
¡°Decorum, please comrade,¡± Janice interjected.
¡°Fine, I¡¯ll just get to the point. Why don¡¯t we just do something simpler? Like breaking some hostile architecture. Something like that?¡± Addy asked.
¡°Because the vision said--¡± Addy rolled their eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t do that, I am serious! The vision said we had to do this. And that once Poltergeist was taken out it would set us on the path of Eternal Communism!¡± Marcus said. Addy really shouldn¡¯t be so dismissive.
Margaret didn¡¯t know why they always had to argue about this point. Can¡¯t they just agree to disagree? They could both be right, just because Marcus has the gift of prophecy doesn¡¯t make it okay to use it to win arguments.
¡°Listen, I agree with you on the importance of direct action. It¡¯s why I left those hacks over at WAA. I just think it is important that we don¡¯t bite off more than we can chew,¡± Addy said.
That is a really good point.
¡°Direct action?¡± Marcus asked rhetorically. He scoffed. ¡°Of course someone as undisciplined as you would use anarchist rhetoric.¡± Why is it bad to use anarchist rhetoric?
¡°You used a Maoist term in your proposal and don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t hear you mutter about how RAM is supposed to be inter-tendency after Roman called you on it,¡± Addy said. Did he really say that?
¡°Alright, calm down both of you two!¡± Janice declared.
I¡¯m happy Janice is here to keep things civil.
¡°I¡¯m calling it. Can we just vote and get this over with?¡± Janice asked the group.
¡°Yeah,¡± Addy said at the same time Marcus said ¡°Okay.¡±
¡°We are gonna do a roll call vote: I vote yes,¡± Janice said.
¡°Chairs are only supposed to vote if there is a tie,¡± Roman corrected.
Janice winced. ¡°Sorry my bad, I am used to going first. Next is¡ Comrade Secretary Gibson?¡± Janice asked.
¡°Nay,¡± Roman voted.
Wait, how am I going to vote?
¡°Comrade Huxley?¡± Janice asked.
Marcus made good points, but so did Addy. A cool breeze sent a chill up her spine.
¡°Nay!¡± Addy declared.
¡°Comrade Lowry?¡± Janice asked. Everyone was staring at her. Marcus was gonna vote yes, so that meant if she voted yes, it would be tied. Roman said the chair votes in a tie and Janice already said she was gonna vote for it. The feeling of cold was intense.
¡°I don¡¯t know which to pick.¡± Margaret admitted.
¡°You can always abstain,¡± Roman offered.
¡°But that would kill the proposal!¡± Marcus said.
She looked between Marcus and Addy. If she voted in a way they wouldn¡¯t like, would they be mad at her?
¡°I¡¯m¡¡± Margaret said.
Ice started to build up in her fingernails.
¡°I vote¡¡± Margaret said.
Her thermos on the table in front of her started to freeze.
¡°I change my answer!¡± Addy blurted out.
Everyone turned to look at Addy.
¡°Yeah, I, uh, changed my mind. Let¡¯s do it and shit¡¡± Addy said. ¡°Good plan Marcus!¡±
Addy nudged him playfully in the ribs.
¡°Oh, yeah. Thank you for saying so. And of course you had some great critiques to offer. You and I should definitely get together after this to see how we can address them during the execution,¡± Marcus said.
The tears that had been frozen on her face melted and Margaret felt warm again. I am so happy seeing those two get along I could burst!
¡°Are we good?¡± Addy asked.
They were all in agreement.
As she was packing up her stuff, Addy approached Margaret while Marcus, Janice, and Roman were talking about the current plan.
¡°Hey Em, good meeting, right?¡± Addy asked. Margaret loved when they called her that. It helped that it worked for both her real name and the name she got when she joined the Rammers.
Margaret wasn¡¯t sure why they all chose to use fake names, but Marcus picked hers out and said it sounded pretty. She felt warm and fuzzy just thinking of that.
¡°Yeah definitely!¡± Margaret answered. She smiled at them.
Addy seemed¡ Relieved? It is really sweet that they care so much.
¡°Okay, well me and Marcus are gonna work out some of the details for the plan. You want to catch up later?¡± Addy asked.
¡°Don¡¯t we have the sleep study thing later?¡± Margaret said.
¡°Sleep study thing?¡± Janice asked, leaving her conversation with Marcus and Roman.
¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the part-time job Addy helped me get!¡± Margaret explained.
¡°You just sleep for a few hours while they monitor your brain waves,¡± Addy clarified.
¡°Seems like good cash. Are they still hiring?¡± Janice asked.
¡°I can check but my cousin is the one with the connection. We are just the lab rats,¡± Addy said.
¡°Okay, let me know then,¡± Janice said. She turned to Margaret, ¡°Anyway if you aren¡¯t busy, wanna grab a bite?¡±
¡°Of course!¡± Margaret said, ¡°Just let me grab my stuff.¡±
Margaret finished packing her laptop and papers. But when she went to grab her hot cocoa, she recoiled at the temperature.
¡°Aw my hot cocoa got cold¡¡± Margaret said, ¡°This flask was supposed to be insulated too¡¡±
But before she had a chance to dwell, Janice grabbed it from the table.
¡°I got just the thing for this!¡± Janice said, ¡°You know the drill.¡±
¡°Um¡ sixteen times nine?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°Okay, Fifteen times two is thirty, plus two is thirty-two. Plus sixteen is forty-eight. Then you times it again by three. Fifty times three is one hundred fifty. Minus six is one hundred forty-four! That is the answer! Then just, shake the molecules around¡ Done!¡± Janice said.
Margaret¡¯s hot chocolate was back to being hot!
¡°You know, you could have just multiplied it by ten then subtract sixteen,¡± Roman said, joining the conversation.
¡°Listen, it works better if I do use a lot of steps. It¡¯s about the focus more than the answer,¡± Janice said.
When Janice was in her flow state, she was a powerful pyrokinetic. Her talent, , let her melt, burn, or even just heat up anything she wanted as long as she was focusing hard enough.
"Your lucky Janice," Margaret asked, "I wish I had a cool power like that!"
"Oh, um..." Janice said, looking over to Addy. Why would she be looking at Addy?
"You still have time, maybe you will!" Addy said, "Anyway don''t wanna keep Marcus waiting on this convo. Go eat some shitty cafeteria food."
"It''s not crappy! The cooks try really hard on it!" Margaret insisted.
"Yeah, yeah," Addy said, hugging her. Their hugs are always so warm.
¡°Wanna join us Roman?¡± Janice asked.
¡°Yeah I could eat,¡± Roman answered.
Margaret couldn''t help but feel lucky to be surrounded by such cool and interesting people.
Ch 20. A Friendly Meal
19:40. Tuesday, November 28, 2023. William Williams Dining Hall at Sherman University.
As they approached the entrance to the dining hall, Margaret became excited. William Williams (sometimes just shortened to Will Will), had two sides. One was the quiet side, where students could eat quietly in peace. A lot of students used it for studying and talking was strictly limited so students could focus.
The other was the loud side, where students were allowed to talk to one another freely, and they even played music over the speaker. The sides were separated by the room where students actually got the food.
Her dad had made her agree that she wouldn¡¯t go to the loud side unless she was with friends who he had approved of. It was tough because Margaret knew that he was just worried about her being overwhelmed, but she wished that he didn¡¯t worry so much about her. Still, she would never upset her dad, so she followed the rule to the letter.
Thankfully Janice was on the list of approved friends. It had been awkward asking her and Addy to talk to her dad when she wasn¡¯t allowed to know what they talked about, but she had the best friends in the world so it turned out fine in the end.
¡°Can we go to the loud side?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°I kind of prefer the quiet side,¡± Roman said, ¡°it isn¡¯t so bad if you keep your voice down.¡±
¡°But I never get to go, Margaret said, ¡°and I think it would be really fun!¡±
¡°It¡¯s fun?¡± Roman asked, ¡°Well that won me over, let¡¯s do it.¡±
¡°Loud side it is,¡± Janice said.
William Williams was one of Margaret¡¯s favorite spots on campus. Beside the food being great (besides what one cute nonbinary person might tell you), they always had plenty of options for vegans, vegetarians, and people who were gluten free.
They also had plenty of drink options. Including the coffee, soda, tea, and various flavors of juices and smoothies, they also had Margaret¡¯s go to drink of hot chocolate always on tap! And whenever she was here she would always refill her thermos.
Her favorite part though, was the ice cream machine. Margaret had taken ample advantage of it during her time on campus. And, when she was feeling particularly decadent, she would pour ice cream into her hot cocoa. It always came out at the perfect temperature.
The downside though, was she was definitely feeling the freshman fifteen her dad warned her about. She had already been on the husky side before she ever even became a student here.
Even if she was a bit self-conscious about it, she tried not to let it get her down. Her dad once told it meant that there was just more of her to love, and so she decided she would take that message to heart.
¡°How do you drink that?¡± Janice asked, ¡°That would be way too sweet for me.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Roman agreed, ¡°I am getting a cavity just looking at it.¡±
Margaret had decided to treat herself with a cup of hot chocolate, with ice cream, marshmallows, and some sprinkles and gummy bears poured on for color! It was already a rare treat to get to go to the loud side, so she decided she would go all out.
¡°Judge me all you want, but I know you want to try it!¡± Margaret said.
¡°I¡¯ll pass,¡± Roman said.
¡°Same,¡± Janice said, ¡°but it is fitting for someone as sweet as you.¡±
¡°Stop!¡± Margaret insisted, ¡°You¡¯ll make me melt!¡±
¡°Then you and the icecream will have another thing in common,¡± Roman said.
Everyone is always so nice to me. I wish I could make it up to them.
A pop song that Margaret had heard on the radio came on. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was called Baby I¡¯m In Love or My Sweetheart¡¯s Liar. But those phrases were repeated enough during the chorus that she was confident it was one of the two.
¡°Ugh, I hate this pop trash,¡± Janice said, ¡°I can¡¯t wait for the revolution so I can burn down the studio boardroom that made it.¡±
¡°That seems harsh,¡± Roman said, ¡°why waste a perfectly good building?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Margaret said, ¡°I kind of like it. How do you know that the singer didn¡¯t write it anyway.¡±
¡°Margaret,¡± Janice responded, ¡°I love you, but you are so naive. None of those popstars make their own songs.¡±
Margaret should have been bothered by being called naive, but she was too happy hearing Janice say that she loves her. It made her feel warm.
¡°I love you too,¡± Margaret said, ¡°even if you only like scary music.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not ¡®scary¡¯, sweetie,¡± Janice said, ¡°it¡¯s alt.¡±
¡°A lot of the bands you like are probably made in the same boardroom as Sweetheart¡¯s Liar,¡± Roman explained. Oh is that what this song is called?
¡°What would you know?¡± Janice asked, ¡°All you listen to is techno.¡±
¡°Calling chiptune music ¡®techno¡¯ is as bad as Margaret calling alt music ¡®scary¡¯,¡± Roman said.
¡°They are scary!¡± Margaret interjected, ¡°A lot of the songs Janice sent me talked about blood and the devil. And I don¡¯t like that they yell...¡±
¡°And what did you think of the stuff I played for you the other night?¡± Roman said.
¡°The video game music you played on ?¡± Margaret asked, ¡°I liked it. It reminded me of watching my brother play Puzzle Knight as a kid.¡± It was hard for her to find the words at the time, but it had made her feel nostalgic for her family.
¡°Sorry Janice,¡± Roman said, ¡°Case closed. My ¡®video game music¡¯ beats your ¡®scary music¡¯.¡±
¡°Can¡¯t argue with that logic,¡± Janice said, ¡°but Margaret you have to at least admit my taste is better than Marcus or Addy¡¯s.¡±
The conversation drifted onto the tastes of the other two members. When asked for an ¡®official ruling¡¯ on their tastes, Margaret declared that Addy¡¯s ¡®scary German rap¡¯ was worse than Janice''s because at least some of the songs Janice listened to were about love. While she rated the ¡®old people¡¯ music Marcus listens to as the best because the lyrics were always about coming together for a better world.
¡°Yeah, Janice agreed, ¡°a good rendition of Solidarity Forever will make me tear up in the right context.¡±
¡°Pretty sure most communists would agree,¡± Roman concurred.
¡°By the way, what do you think he and Addy are talking about for the plan?¡± Margaret asked.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
¡°Hey,¡± Janice warned, ¡°be careful talking about the plan in public.¡± But before Margaret could feel bad for talking about secret business in public, Roman spoke up.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I got it,¡± Roman said. Then, the music for Sweetheart¡¯s Liar began to get louder.
¡°It¡¯s programmed to just play whatever is playing over the speakers,¡± Roman said, ¡°and just in case¡¡± He held out his hand, holding what looked to be an invisible box. He waved it over the area.
¡°Okay,¡± Roman said, ¡°no hidden bugs. And anyone nearby will just think the speakers are just louder over here. I have it facing away from us so that we are free to talk.¡±
¡°Your talent is so cool, Roman,¡± Margaret said.
¡°Thanks I awakened it myself,¡± Roman quipped.
¡°To answer your question Margaret,¡± Janice explained, ¡°I have to guess that Addy just wants to make sure we are playing this smart.¡±
¡°But if we have
¡¯s visions,¡± Margaret asked, ¡°what is there to worry about?¡±
¡°Sweetie,¡± Janice said, ¡°I love you, and I love Marcus, but you really shouldn¡¯t put stock in those visions.¡±
¡°Agreed on that point,¡± Roman said.
¡°But Janice, I thought you were in favor of the proposal?¡± Margaret asked, ¡°Why would you do that if you don¡¯t think it would work.¡±
¡°I was initially on the fence,¡± Janice answered, ¡°but I figured taking on a group of villains might make a good stress test for our current combat capabilities.¡±
¡°I was against it because it sounded like adventurism,¡± Roman said, ¡°I think we need to develop more as a revolutionary vanguard before we are able to take something like this on.¡±
¡°What do you mean by adventurism?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°It is a term for when someone is motivated by a desire for action regardless of if the tactic is sound. It¡¯s something Addy and Marcus have in common. I don¡¯t see how Addy¡¯s plan to remove hostile architecture was that much better,¡± Roman explained.
¡°Isn¡¯t hostile architecture bad?¡± Margaret asked. She remembered a conversation where Addy explained the concept to her in great detail.
¡°That isn¡¯t the point,¡± Roman answered, ¡°you and I are the only two from Midport in the Rammers. Neither Addy nor Marcus really understand the local conditions but want to go out and try to solve our problems.¡±
Margaret did her best to absorb the information. Adventurism is when bad socialists try to fix other people¡¯s problems.
She added it to her mental list of other words that were bad such as ¡®revisionism¡¯, ¡®opportunism¡¯, and ¡®reactionary¡¯. But she rated it a lot less bad than the others because it was something Addy and Marcus do rather than something the WAA or conservatives do.
¡°What would you have us do?¡± Janice asked Roman.
¡°We could steal a page out of YWAA¡¯s book,¡± Roman answered, ¡°and only focus on organizing on campus. Only without their tendency for reformism and economism.¡±
¡°I know those ones! Reformism is when fake socialists try to change stuff with laws. And economism is when fake socialists get caught up in labor unions.¡±
¡°Close enough,¡± Roman said, nodding. Roman is a stickler for definitions, so I know this is high praise.
Janice patted her on the head, and fed her a french fry. Margaret felt warm thinking about how far she had come since she first joined.
¡°You should have brought this up in the meeting,¡± Janice said, ¡°it would have changed my mind at least.¡±
¡°Honestly?¡± Roman said, ¡°You called the vote a little early. Plus I thought it was gonna fail anyway.¡±
¡°Oh, yeah sorry about that,¡± Janice apologized, ¡°things were just getting a little too heated.¡±
¡°Speaking of the vote,¡± Margaret interjected, ¡°do you think because adventurism is why Addy changed their mind in the end? Because Addy and Marcus actually agree on trying to fix other people¡¯s problems?¡±
It was a little quiet. Margaret felt a chill up her spine. Did I get the definition wrong? I thought I was starting to understand.
¡°You know,¡± Janice said, ¡°I think fixing other people¡¯s problems was exactly why Addy changed their mind.¡±
¡°Good point Marg,¡± Roman said.
Margret felt warm at the praise, and because it meant she now could understand Addy better.
20:19. Tuesday, November 28, 2023. Sherman University.
¡°Okay, this is where I have to head out,¡± Roman said, ¡°have a good night comrades.¡±
¡°Night comrade!¡± Margaret said.
¡°Later,¡± Janice said.
Roman lived in the Innovation Hall, which was exclusive for stem majors and was a little ways up the road. Addy and Janice lived in Miles Dormitory which was one of the oldest dorms on campus, and was one of the nicest on campus. Addy didn¡¯t like it though and said it was probably filled with lead paint.
Margaret was heading back there in order to meet back up with Addy so they could drive her to the sleep study place.
Meanwhile Margaret lived at Continental College, which was for freshmen only, and wasn¡¯t far from Miles Dorm. Living there was supposed to be a bonding experience for the freshmen, but part of the arrangement that her dad had made with the school meant she wasn¡¯t able to have a roommate. Everyone told her they were jealous she had a single, but all it made Margaret feel was lonely.
He did say he would talk to the school about letting her move in with Janice next year, but Janice was a junior and would be a senior by that time. Not to mention Marcus was a senior, and would have graduated by then. He said he would be applying for the graduate program though so there was a chance he would be around for longer.
Thankfully, Addy and Roman were only sophomores so I have lots of time to spend with both of them!
¡°Hey hotties, where are you two going this time of night!¡± said a guy interrupting Margaret¡¯s thoughts. She looked over and saw a group of guys hanging out by a bench.
¡°Just ignore them,¡± Janice whispered.
¡°Come on baby!¡± the guy shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t go and give me the cold shoulder!¡±
¡°Yeah blondie don¡¯t be a bitch!¡± a second guy shouted. They all started laughing.
Margaret didn¡¯t like these boys. They were ruining a good night she and her friend were having. So even though Janice asked her to ignore them, she just couldn¡¯t.
¡°That is very rude!¡± Maragret called out.
¡°Ew, I wasn¡¯t talking to the fat one!¡± the second guy shouted. All three really started to laugh after that. Margret felt a chill.
¡°Seriously Maragret,¡± Janice whispered louder, ¡°just let it go.¡±
But Maragret couldn¡¯t hold it in. Maybe she had a bit of an adventurist streak in her too, because she really wanted to fix these boys'' bad attitudes.
¡°There is nothing wrong with being fat! My dad says it means there is more of me to love!¡± Margaret said.
¡°Yeah, and what does your boyfriend say? ¡®Help you¡¯re crushing me!¡¯¡± the second boy said. Margaret froze in her tracks and felt her fingertips getting cold.
¡°Die in a fire!¡± Janice shouted back, before whispering to her ¡°Seriously don¡¯t listen to pigs. You¡¯re hot, anyone would be lucky to date you. We are almost at the dorm, so let¡¯s just go.¡±
But those boys were right. I¡¯ve never even had a boyfriend, and no guy would ever want to sleep with me.
¡°You pig headed misogynists better take that back and apologize!¡± Janice shouted.
I¡¯ve never even kissed a boy. Why would they wanna kiss someone like me?
¡°Or what! Is she gonna eat us!¡± the third guy yelled.
I¡¯m ugly. And stupid.
Ice started to cover both of her hands.
¡°I¡¯m serious it is about to get really bad! Run!¡± Janice said before she started to mutter numbers to herself.
I¡¯m going to be alone forever.
used the ice covering Margret¡¯s hand to force her to lift her arm. Once her arm was raised, fired out a spear made of ice, which raced toward the metal bench. Rather than shattering, once the spear hit its mark, the ice in the spear surrounded it. The boys next to the bench ran away as fast as they could, but the third boy had his foot flash frozen to the ground. Margret¡¯s arm fell back next to her.
Nothing matters.
started to raise her arm again, this time aiming directly at the boy in front of her.
¡°Addy is in love with you!¡± Janice shouted.
The third boy managed to get his shoe off and ran away to join his friends half barefoot. Yelling about how Margaret was a ''psycho bitch''.
Margaret turned to Janice. She¡¯s lying to me.
¡°Yeah,¡± Janice said, ¡°but you can¡¯t ask them about it, because they told it to me in private. But I love you so much that it hurts to keep a secret this big from you.¡±
She never cared about me.
raised Margaret¡¯s arm again. This time aiming at Janice. But before it could fire another spear, two arms wrapped around her Margaret.
¡°It¡¯s true!¡± Addy declared.
Warmth filled Margaret¡¯s body. Allowing her frozen tears to flow once more.
Ch 21. A Friendly Car Ride
20:41. Tuesday, November 28, 2023. Sherman University.
¡°You got the cleanup?¡± Addy asked. Baby I¡¯m in love!
¡°Yeah,¡± Janice said, ¡°Sorry about using the emergency option.¡± Baby I¡¯m in love!
¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Addy said, ¡°figured it would happen eventually. I am just glad I waited outside so we wouldn¡¯t be late.¡± Baby you¡¯re my Sweetheart too!
¡°You still gonna take her to sleep study thing?¡± Janice asked. Sweetheart, your warmth is my fire!
¡°Yeah, it should be fine. They know her deal,¡± Addy said. And if our love can¡¯t be true¡
¡°I don¡¯t know Addy,¡± Janice said, ¡°which cousin did you say had the connection there?¡± Then I¡¯ll be my sweetheart¡¯s liar!
¡°Janice, can you stop asking me about my shitty part-time job and start on the clean up before someone comes?¡± Addy said. My sweetheart¡¯s liar!
¡°Okay, talk to you later then,¡± Janice said. Baby I¡¯m in love!
¡°Yeah.¡± Baby I¡¯m in love!
Margret wanted to pay attention, but she was too busy being happy! She was holding Addy¡¯s arm with her head resting on their bicep. Humming the lyrics to Sweetheart¡¯s Liar. She had never had anyone even say that they ¡®like liked¡¯, and someone she has liked for so long just said that they were in love with her!
Her head was spinning. How long have they felt this way? Did Margret like them back? Would they ask her out now?
She had never dated anyone seriously, let alone a nonbinary person. Did this mean she wasn¡¯t straight? What is the non-binary term for boyfriend?
Margaret stood there until Addy prompted her to start heading back to their car. Addy drove a beat up old Italian white sports car. The front bumper was a little loose, and it had a lot of dents and scrapes which they had never got fixed, which Addy always called them its ¡®battle scars¡¯.
It was apparently a gift they got the day they first received their license.
Margaret got in one of the two scissor doors, and sat on the black leather seats. When she got in the car, she saw the expression on Addy¡¯s face was different than normal.
They let out a sigh.
¡°We still have some time till we are supposed to be at the thing,¡± Addy said, ¡°you want to grab a bite to eat?¡±
¡°I¡¯m pretty stuffed,¡± Margaret said, ¡°I just had a full meal with Janice and Roman.¡±
Addy strummed their fingers on the steering wheel.
¡°Would you care if I grab some fast food?¡± Addy asked, ¡°Maybe a burger?¡±
¡°Sure, of course,¡± Margaret agreed.
Addy started the car, and set the course for a nearby chain that was on the way.
¡°Are you feeling okay?¡± Addy asked.
¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be feeling okay?¡± Margaret asked, before remembering the massive bomb Addy had dropped on her, ¡°Oh because of what you said?¡±
¡°No that wasn¡¯t why I was asking,¡± Addy said, ¡°but Em can we not talk about that till later?¡±
¡°Okay,¡± Margaret agreed.
They strummed the rim of the steering wheel again. ¡°Maybe try to catch me up on everything that happened after the meeting?¡±
¡°Sure thing!¡± Margaret said, ¡°So Roman, Janice, and I ate some dinner on the loud side of Will Will. We talked about music for a bit, Roman told me about adventurism, and we ate some food, that sort of thing. We walked back to meet up with you. Then some guys were rude to me and Janice, then you told me you loved me and I spaced out a little after that¡¡±
¡°Em, you really don¡¯t remember anything else?¡± They asked.
¡°Am I supposed to?¡± Margaret asked.
Addy continued to tap rhythmically on the steering wheel. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine,¡± Addy said.
There was a pause. Margaret wasn¡¯t really sure what to talk about. She was fine if they didn¡¯t want to talk about their feelings, because Margaret still wanted time to sort out her own feelings. Instead of asking something that would continue the conversation, she looked out the window and enjoyed the time she had with her friend.
The pause in the conversation ended up lasting until they reached the restaurant.
Addy ordered a burger, a drink, and some fries. The latter of which they said it was cool if Margaret wanted to have.
¡°You wanna hear about the conversation I had with Marcus?¡± Addy asked.
¡°Sure, did you two work something out?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°Yeah¡¡± Addy said, taking a bite of their burger.
¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Margaret said.
¡°Peachy,¡± Addy said. Oh no. They never say that when they are happy. It was one of the first things Margaret had to learn about dealing with Addy is that they don¡¯t always say the things they mean.
¡°So what did you two agree on?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°I talked him down from his starting point of ambushing her tomorrow,¡± Addy said. Even Margret could tell that would have been a hair brained move, even for the Rammers.
¡°He really wanted to move forward tomorrow? How would that have worked?¡± Margaret asked. Her brother was one of those kids who liked to follow cape stuff, and the way he had made it seem was that you posted the challenge online and they would respond when they felt like it.
¡°None of that seemed to matter to Marcus, he wouldn¡¯t even admit if he knew where to find her, he just seemed to think that whatever we do tomorrow would work. I know he must have more information than he is letting on, but I can¡¯t figure out what¡¡± Addy said, trailing off near the end.
¡°You already know what I am gonna say,¡± Margaret said.
¡°Em,¡± Addy said, finishing up their burger, ¡°if it was anyone else but Marcus, I¡¯d believe them in a heartbeat. But I am not gonna buy any of his bullshit or his even more bullshit explanation that he got the power from aliens.¡±
¡°But you never even give him a chance!¡± Margaret insisted. Anytime Marcus had a vision, Addy always tried to poke holes in it. It made a lot of conversations devolve into arguments.
¡°I really don¡¯t wanna talk about this, can we just move on?¡± Addy asked. Putting the car back into drive in order to head to their part-time job.
¡°Okay,¡± Margaret said, puffing out her cheeks. She wanted to be nice about it, but Margaret didn¡¯t like that this was the second conversation they have shut down so far. She felt a small chill up her spine.
¡°C¡¯mon, don¡¯t give me that cute pouty face of yours,¡± Addy whined, causing Margaret to start to blush. They had a smile on their face, more like their usual self.
¡°Calling me cute isn¡¯t gonna get you out of this, Comrade Huxley!¡± Margaret declared.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°Wow, using my fake last name on me, I must really be in the dog house,¡± Addy said.
Addy was the only one of the Rammers who insisted that because the first name they used wasn¡¯t their legal name anyway, they only needed to have a fake last name. Addy explained to Margaret once that the only reason they got away with it was because nobody wanted to tell a nonbinary person what they could and couldn¡¯t be called.
¡°Yup!¡± Margaret agreed.
¡°You sure flirting won¡¯t work?¡± Addy asked. Yes.
¡°Nope!¡± Margaret lied.
¡°Okay, what do I have to do to get back into your good graces?¡± Addy asked, ¡°And you are sure saying how pretty you look in your sweater won¡¯t do it?¡±
The warmth was a bit too much. Margaret¡¯s head was spinning, and her heart was beating faster. She felt like her face probably looked super red. Addy looked over at her, and they briefly made eye contact which didn¡¯t help matters.
¡°Too much?¡± Addy asked.
¡°I just¡¡± Margaret said, trying to find her words, ¡°It feels wrong to have you compliment me when I don¡¯t know what we are¡ This whole time had just been trying to be funny this whole time, or that you just had a flirty personality¡¡±
¡°Okay, you¡¯re right,¡± Addy said, ¡°I¡¯ll stop.¡± Margaret wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted them to stop. It was just that she was realizing she was a lot more sensitive when she knew someone liked her.
There was another lull in the conversation. They reached their destination, the Mind Development Institute, in Harmon. The building was in the middle of some business park. It was unmarked, if Margaret hadn¡¯t known better she wouldn¡¯t have guessed that it was a research place.
¡°Em, Can we run away together?¡± Addy said out of the blue, causing Margaret to jump.
What? Oh this again?
Addy did this every time they were about to head inside. ¡°Where to this time?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°Ireland. Fair Hallow seems nice, why not try the real thing?¡± Addy said.
¡°Last time you said you were British royalty,¡± Margaret responded, ¡°can¡¯t imagine that going well over there.¡± No self-respecting Midporter didn¡¯t know a little bit of Irish history.
¡°I made all of that up anyway,¡± Addy said, ¡°let¡¯s just live in Ireland and we can open a B&B.¡± Addy always seemed anxious when they played this game, like they were really trying to convince her to go along with this plan.
Most people would consider a bed and breakfast to be a few step downs from Buckingham Palace, but Margaret couldn¡¯t help but see the romance.
¡°We really don¡¯t have time to play this game, Addy,¡± Margaret said.
¡°Just a few more minutes, Em?¡± Addy said.
¡°Come on lazy butt,¡± Margaret said, opening the door, ¡°we don¡¯t wanna seem rude.¡±
The front office of the Mind Development Institute was kind of boring. It hadn¡¯t been dusted in a while, and even though they had a front desk, Margaret had never seen anyone who worked reception.
The back offices were a different story. Everything was clean, with sterile linoleum floors. The walls were a bright white. And the smell made Margaret¡¯s nose itch. Addy and Margaret put both their phones in the box by the door when they entered. An attendant would show up later to pick them up, and would let them know if either of them received an important call.
Addy went off to a separate room while she went to her usual place.
Margret¡¯s room at the Mind Development Institute was pretty spartan. There was a bed, with super thin white sheets, and a big machine next to it. On the other side of the bed was a desk which had a notebook that she could use to write down her dreams. And an alarm clock set for nine in the morning.
Then on the other side of the room, there was a drawer where she could store her clothes, and next to that was a sink with a toothbrush. In the corner of the room was a camera aimed at the bed.
Margaret opened the drawer and pulled out her pajamas and got changed before the nurse was supposed to be here. She did it under the covers because she always felt weird changing in front of a camera. After she changed, Margaret brushed her teeth and laid down on the bed.
A nurse walked in at this point, and after exchanging a few pleasantries, the nurse started to hook up the weird circle things to monitor her brain.
At this point, Margaret would be given some sort of gas that always caused her to pass out, and she would wake up the next morning.
Margaret whispered a quick goodnight to the nurse, who then had her breathe in the gas. The nurse waited a few minutes to monitor the effects, took the things off Margaret¡¯s head, then left the room.
Weird, shouldn¡¯t I be passed out by now? And don¡¯t they need those things to monitor my brain?
After a few minutes, Addy came into the room.
¡°Addy?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°Hey Em,¡± Addy said.
¡°What are you doing here?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°You know you ask me that every week?¡± Addy said.
¡°What?¡± Margaret asked.
¡°Sorry, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Addy said, ¡°I have a lot to explain.¡±
Addy took her by the hand and led her out the door.
Addy had taken her to another room which was even more empty than hers. Every inch of it was now covered in ice, including every inch of her own skin. The only thing that wasn¡¯t frozen was Addy.
How could I have not known?
They had explained everything. Margret got the sense that Addy had long since become an expert at explaining this by now.
Comic Book Syndrome was the cutesy name that anti-psychic reactionaries first coined for her condition. It was made to paint the picture of a kid in highschool so obsessed with superheroes that they put on a costume themselves. It even caught on a bit outside the reactionary bubble, with some even labeling a lot of non-psychics with it.
It caught on because people would confuse fantasy and fiction long before the first psychic ever awakened.
But there was another name for her condition, when a psychic awakened to a talent that was too strong for their mind. The people studying this phenomenon called it Psychic Psychosis.
And this is what Addy said she had.
The gas she took was apparently part of the treatment that they were working on. It helped bring her back into reality even though her talent was active.
How could everyone have lied to me for so long?
All of her friends had been in on keeping this secret from her to different extents. They had to keep up this lie that she was a normal girl, instead of some freak who could and would freeze someone alive at a moment''s notice, all so she wouldn¡¯t go berserk and start hurting people.
Even Her own dad was in on it.
Margaret tried to talk, but it felt like air could barely go through her lungs anymore. She tried to say ¡®what do I do now?¡¯ but it came out more like ¡®Wha now?¡¯.
Addy answered all the same.
¡°Now you have a choice. Do you want to be able to forget you learned this?¡±
She wanted to say no, to at least shake her head. Forgetting this would mean she could be a danger to her friends. It would mean everyone around her would have to do so much work to keep her happy.
But the ice around her skin was so painful. Everything was so cold. She couldn¡¯t live like this every day. She could barely move.
She nodded her head, the ice on her neck cracking and breaking as she did.
¡°Okay, then follow me,¡± Addy said.
They grabbed her hand, and it was so warm. She tried to focus on the warmth in their hand and put it into her legs. Eventually, she was able to get up. As the two of them left the room some people in coveralls started to enter. They were carrying icepicks and coolers.
There was one thing she still didn¡¯t understand.
¡°Why¡ You¡¡± She asked with as much strength that she could muster.
¡°It isn¡¯t always me. Sometimes it¡¯s your dad who gives you the whole spiel. It needs to be someone your talent won¡¯t target.¡±
This wasn¡¯t what Margret had wanted to know. She tried to speak again, but even less came out this time. Still, they knew what she was asking.
¡°You know why,¡± Addy said.
Margaret tried to shake her head, and when she did the ice on her neck started to melt.
¡°Em, you know why,¡± Addy repeated.
¡°W-why!¡± Margret insisted, with every ounce of strength she had left.
Addy turned to look at them. Addy always had a way of looking at her like they were seeing through her. Maybe it was because they knew so much about her that Margaret didn¡¯t even know about herself. But at this moment they looked her directly in the eyes.
¡°Because I love you Emily,¡± Addy said.
She wished there was some way she could remember just this one moment.
09:00. Wednesday, November 29, 2023. Mind Development Institute, Pinewood Ave, Harmon.
Margaret woke up the next day feeling fatigued. Whatever drug they were testing was clearly only making her tired, because it felt like she got a lot less sleep than she should¡¯ve.
It also made her sweat a lot, because her clothes always felt damp in the morning, but that could have been because someone set the thermostat way too high.
Still, she dutifully got changed back into her clothes from yesterday and brushed her teeth.
She met up with Addy, who looked more tired than she did, and they started to drive back to SU. Picking up some Duncan¡¯s Coffee on the way.
Idly, Margaret checked her phone and saw that she had a missed call from her brother. There was even a text from him too. She opened the app to read the message.
kidBro (Zeke_Khalil): Hey sis, need to talk to you about something. Call me back
Her brother would be in school by now, so she texted back to have him call her during his lunch period. She didn¡¯t worry though, because she knew her little brother and no matter what the situation was, she knew that if he put his mind to it, there was nothing he couldn''t do.
Ch 22. Morning After
09:00. Tuesday, December 5th, 2023. Alexis¡¯s Condo.
Beep Beep Beep. Alexis¡¯s alarm rang. She silenced it. Next to her, buried in a bunch of Alexis¡¯s blankets, Jen stirred. Alexis had ample spare pajamas which Jen had all refused, opting instead to only wear an extra long t-shirt. As great as it feels to wake up next to a cute girl, it sucks to know that meant everything that happened last night was all real.
She really did spend hours talking to a ghost who was apparently asleep downstairs. Not a ghost. She reminded herself.
She was already late to clock in, so at this point she didn¡¯t see the point in rushing. Alexis got up to pee and go brush her teeth.
In the bathroom, the lack of sleep had her head pounding and feeling more than a little dizzy. After she washed her hands, she took her meds and washed her face. In part for hygiene reasons, but also to wake herself up a bit.
She checked her work phone to see if she could clock in on it. Mercifully, that did end up being the case.
Man, I still have my presentation on the costume game I gotta give tomorrow.
Alexis debated the feasibility (and especially) the morality of asking the self-described super villain who she was now acquainted with if she had any suggestions for places she could learn more about the subject. In that vein, she decided to check down to see if Pam was awake.
Unsurprisingly, Alexis couldn¡¯t find her. She wondered if there is a ghost of an equivalent of those bells you put on cats. Not a ghost!
Last night, they had mostly been using the lantern as their guide to know where she was, but with it being the only thing to look at it made Pam feel more inhuman than she really was. There has to be some solution.
Alexis couldn¡¯t think of a solution to that problem, but she was able to brainstorm some next steps, but she would have time to move on them later however.
For now, Alexis decided to make some breakfast. This was, of course, coffee. The coffee she had at home was not as good as the stuff from Duncan¡¯s, or the fancy espresso she had at that one restaurant in Midport. Alexis had always wanted to get into making her own espressos, but she could never find the time.
Instead she pulled out a bag of instant coffee and began assembling the only drink that made sense in such confusing times. When it was ready, she poured in some french vanilla almond milk creamer she had. But no matter how much stirred it, the cream kept floating to the top, which she wasn¡¯t sure whether or not that was a sign the creamer had gone bad, but she was definitely gonna drink it anyway.
Is Jen gonna want a cup?
She prepared a cup just in case, this time skipping the creamer. For a moment Alexis debated if it would be rude to not have a cup for Pam, before deciding that a ghost definitely doesn¡¯t need coffee.
Not a ghost, not a ghost, not a ghost. Ghosts aren¡¯t real, no matter how much Pam seems like she is one.
Once Alexis had her coffee she went back out into her living and dining room. Although at the moment it was more like a living and tarp room. There were plastic candles everywhere, some glass from the broken planchette, and her couch was where her table would normally be. That last bit was a little disorientating for her, but thankfully she liked to work on the couch anyway so the table wouldn¡¯t be too missed.
Alexis checked out the TV, which thankfully wasn¡¯t broken. The candle that hit it however was not as lucky, and was laying in broken pieces on the floor.
I definitely could have skipped out on the candles and no one would have noticed. It was not worth committing to the bit if it meant I almost had to go without having a tv.
She knew Jen appreciated the effort, and they didn¡¯t cost that much, but was the ambience really worth the trouble? Either way she was glad she hadn¡¯t sprung for real candles or her place may have burned down.
Alexis got her computer from her room, sat on the couch, and began her work day.
An hour or two later, the next one up was actually Pam. So much for sleeping like the dead.
The lantern floated in front of her on the couch, which made Alexis a little nervous because she had put her TV back on the stand, meaning Pam was now in front of her TV. Alexis wasn¡¯t religious anymore but if she knew what saint to pray to at this moment she would have.
[¡°HEQ SPPY DOUT THE GAFF¡±]
The bright flashing did not help alleviate Alexis¡¯s headache, but thankfully most of that had gone away with the coffee.
Instead of grabbing the white board, Alexis pulled out her phone and opened a new message. She typed, ¡°You have your letters mixed up, FYI.¡±
The lantern flashed rapidly while moving up and down, like Pam was shaking it. It was too fast for Alexis to keep up with. Alexis figured that Pam was not happy about the lost progress. Thankfully she wasn¡¯t hitting her walls or floor this time.
Wait, is that it?
She moved some dots and dashes around in her head. ¡®G¡¯ and ¡®W¡¯ were backwards, same for ¡®F¡¯ and ¡®L¡¯.
Alexis typed, ¡°Were you talking about the wall?¡±
The lantern settled back into place.
[¡°C¡±]
According to the system from yesterday, this meant ¡®correct¡¯ or ¡®yes¡¯. Alexis typed back, ¡°Oh, because you hit my wall a bunch yesterday?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
Alexis thought about how to respond. On one hand, it isn¡¯t like I am rich.
She didn¡¯t have a lot of expenses, but if every night was as bad as these past few nights in terms of repairs and replacing her stuff, her savings were eventually gonna run dry. Even if in the short term, she could afford it.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
But there was also a question of why she should be the one paying and taking on the risk. It reminded her of the local highschool kid with the flyers who wanted psychics removed from school because they could pose a danger to other students. The reason she had been sympathetic was because it wasn''t reasonable to expect someone to risk themselves just so you can be free to do whatever you wanted.
On the other hand, what am I supposed to say? Please stop hurting my home?
Alexis couldn''t help but feel bad for Pam. She didn¡¯t want to hurt her feelings. It felt like kicking someone when they weren¡¯t just down, but may literally be dead.
Alexis typed, ¡°It¡¯s fine. I know you can¡¯t really help it.¡±
The lantern sat still for a second. Alexis wondered if she was trying to find a way to respond. But Alexis wanted to move on from this conversation, so she changed the subject.
Alexis typed, ¡°By the way, we need to get you a buzzer or something that makes a sound. Staring at a flashing light is really starting to hurt my eyes.¡±
[¡°C¡±]
Alexis typed, ¡°I¡¯ll look into it, for now practice your letters some more over by the tarp. I¡¯ll leave my phone over there so you can see what you are typing. Is that okay?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
It is weird to kind of order around a super villainess who now may, or may not, be an unkillable ghost.
had barely protected her from the consequences of Pam only accidentally throwing things at Alexis. She was pretty sure that Pam wouldn¡¯t have that much of an issue actually succeeding in hurting her if she wanted to.
Alexis brought her personal phone on and opened up MorseMore. She had messed with the settings so the screen wouldn¡¯t turn off unless Alexis explicitly tapped the power button. That combined with the fact that she had charged it last night, meant the battery would last for a little bit. Maybe not having the ability to see notifications from Clogger will be a net positive to my productivity.
Since she could still check Clogger on her computer though, Alexis knew it wouldn¡¯t affect her normal working pace too much either way.
Eventually, Jen came trudging down the staircase from Alexis¡¯s room. Still only wearing the t-shirt she slept in, but had brought down one of Alexis¡¯s blankets. As she passed by she lazily waved at the lantern, who most likely did not see because Pam continued practicing her letters. Although Alexis figured if she had waved back Alexis wouldn¡¯t have been able to see it.
¡°Coffee¡¯s in the kitchen. It¡¯s probably cold now, but you can probably just nuke it,¡± Alexis said.
Jen nodded like a zombie.
¡°Food?¡± Jen said, moaning.
¡°You want me to make you something?¡± Alexis asked.
Jen nodded, she stuck out her bottom lip to sell the act. She could be such a baby in the morning. Still, Alexis did owe her for her help yesterday.
¡°What do you want?¡± Alexis asked, knowing the answer would not be as simple like cereal or toast.
¡°Eggies?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Fine¡¡± Alexis whined, ¡°But I am just gonna do scrambled, I really can¡¯t spend time making you a whole thing.¡±
¡°Tatos?¡± Jen asked, in a way that if Jen could make herself cry she probably would have.
¡°Okay,¡± Alexis acquiesced, ¡°I¡¯ll cook up some potatoes, just stop looking at me like that!¡±
¡°Yay, thank you!¡± Jen said, plopping herself down on the couch. Fully dropping whatever act she was performing to get Alexis to pity her. It would have been funny if Alexis wasn¡¯t so done with Jen¡¯s shit. It was the same way, even when Alexis was at her place. Even though they were both lazy about cooking, Jen was always better about getting what she wants.
Alexis wasn¡¯t a particularly good cook. She learned how to make scrambled eggs when she was little, and that was about it. When it came to feeding herself she usually took whatever route was the most efficient for her to stop being hungry. Which meant a lot of instant meals.
As for ingredients, she still had two eggs left in the fridge. But luckily she had plenty of potatoes because Alexis liked to throw them in the microwave to make ¡®baked potatoes¡¯. Even if they weren¡¯t technically baked.
To cook scrambled eggs she would need milk, but all Alexis had was some vanilla oat milk she used for her cereal, so Jen would just have to settle for her scrambled eggs being a bit sweet.
Once she got everything settled, the smell of the potatoes cooking started to make Alexis feel a bit hungry herself. Rather than cook more, or take some of the meal she just made for Jen, she threw a thing of instant mac and cheese in the microwave so she would have something to tide her over.
After Alexis¡¯s mac and cheese was done, she figured since she was already doting on Jen so much this morning, that she may as well heat up her coffee too.
When she was done, she came back out to the other room to see Jen was just on her phone, scrolling through videos of cats on Sharebi. Alexis put the plate on Jen¡¯s lap, and was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek for her efforts. She put her drink on the coffee table.
The lantern had moved over to the couch as well. It was hard to tell because Alexis couldn¡¯t see Pam¡¯s eyes but if she had to guess, Pam had gotten bored of practicing and wanted to look at cat videos.
When Alexis had made eye contact(?) with the lantern however, it floated over to where Alexis was standing behind the couch.
[¡°R U 2 DATING¡±]
This was kind of complicated.
Well, it wasn¡¯t really complicated, Alexis just hated the word for what she and Jen were, even if she was fine with the actual arrangement. But Alexis also felt weirdly defensive over having been asked, and wondered if Pam was even entitled to information about Alexis''s love life. Afterall, Alexis had known Aabria for three years before she had come out to her, so who was Pam to ask Alexis what her deal is after only meeting her like a month ago?
Still, considering Jen only had a singular piece of attire, and the cheek kiss just now, it was probably a pretty normal question to ask.
I could play it off like we are just close friends. Not like this situation was out of bounds for straight girls anyway.
Alexis briefly wondered if Pam was asking because she was homophobic and wanted to know if we were ''sinners'', however Alexis dismissed this out of hand. Alexis wasn¡¯t one to profile, but the one time she saw Pam when she was alive, she definitely gave off some sort of vibes. Still, even if Pam was a homophobe it would be a bit unlikely for her to immediately attack the two of them over it.
Even if it was a bit unlike her, Alexis decided she should be a bit honest. She wasn¡¯t sure how long she would actually be spending to help Pam with her situation, but at least this way it would save an awkward conversation down the line.
Pam still had Alexis¡¯s personal phone, so instead she pulled out her work phone and typed, ¡°Situationship, mostly platonic.¡±
Jen turned around, most likely prompted by the blinking lantern behind her. ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Nothing, just eat your eggs!¡± Alexis demanded. Why do both my house guests have to be so nosy?
Pam handed Alexis back her personal phone. A process that was so forceful that it nearly activated . Alexis had to actively remind herself that Pam probably wasn¡¯t actually mad at her, and that this was the only way she could interact with objects.
When Alexis checked the phone, she saw that she had a new notification from findHer telling Alexis that she had just matched with someone.
Oh, the notification probably came through when she was practicing her morse code and she thought there was a chance that if we were dating that I was cheating on Jen or something.
Alexis typed, ¡°It¡¯s cool. Jen knows I date people.¡±
To prove her point, Alexis held it in a place where both Jen and Pam could see.
Jen, excited to have some context for the conversation, paused her cat video to get out her own messaging app. She typed, ¡°Yeah, were just fuk buddies lmao¡±
She bonked Jen on the head.
Alexis typed, ¡°Not funny. Now finish your food and get dressed, because after breakfast we gotta talk about our next steps.¡±
Ch 23. Next Steps
Once breakfast was consumed, Alexis made Jen leave to go put on clothes because part of her plan involved driving. While Jen left, Alexis opened up a notes program on her laptop. She had a feeling that she was gonna be doing a lot of typing and that using her phone or the white board was gonna be annoying after awhile.
She moved to the tarp area and sat on one of the two couch cushions they had plundered from Alexis¡¯s loveseat. She didn¡¯t love having her laptop near Pam, but she was not going to risk her tv.
This morning Alexis had started brainstorm a few next steps.
Alexis typed, ¡°Okay Pam, just want to make sure you and I are on the same page. I assume the whole ¡®super villain¡¯ thing means you don¡¯t want to go to the police.¡±
The lantern flashed.
[¡°C¡±]
Honestly, no matter how much Pam¡¯s talent scared her, or how jarring it was to talk to someone who presumably identified as ¡®evil¡¯, at least they could agree on having a healthy skepticism of authority.
¡°Alright,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°then first things first, we need to know if your body is still out there. Can you feel it at all?¡±
When she was brainstorming this morning, Alexis put this at the top of her priority list. She needed more information about how much sensory information Pam might be getting from her body, if any.
[¡°N¡±]
Alexis typed, ¡°You said you felt tired last night though, right?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
Alexis typed, ¡°So you can see and move your talent, but you can¡¯t hear, feel, or move your body at all?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
Alexis typed, ¡°And sorry if this is obvious, but you can still feel emotions like being happy or angry, and last night you said you felt tired?¡± Even if it was stuff she had intuited or had already been told, Alexis asked just to make sure she had as clear an understanding as possible. That was the method she had seen a lot of detectives employ when dealing with a lot of unknowns.
In fiction anyway.
[¡°C¡±]
She tried to wrap her head around what that experience was like. There were of course cases of people who can¡¯t move anything but their eyes, but usually they didn¡¯t have a second phantasmic body they could warg into. Or, I guess I don¡¯t know if it feels more like warging or just having another set of limbs.
Alexis typed, ¡°Again, sorry if this is obvious, but do you feel hungry?¡±
There was a long pause before the conversation.
There was a very real chance that Pam might be dying with no food or water, and if that was the case they would have to start moving fast. And even if Alexis wasn¡¯t a fan, it definitely meant going to the police.
But also, Alexis couldn¡¯t feel too concerned about this scenario however. It had been days since she was first attacked and was left in this state. And It just seemed so implausible that her attacker would do all that work and just leave her somewhere to starve rather than kidnap or kill her. Especially if the attack was premeditated, but Alexis didn¡¯t have enough info to determine if that was the case yet.
So if Pam did feel like she was starving or if her hunger waxed and waned (because someone was feeding her regularly), it would at least be one clue them into what her body¡¯s condition might be.
But also, hunger wasn¡¯t really an emotion, it only occurred if you had a stomach to send signals to your brain. And if she was fully cut off from her body somehow, she probably couldn¡¯t feel it.
This was dangerous because it meant that they would have no idea what condition her body would be.
Not to mention if she felt hunger it would one hundred percent confirm she was alive.
[¡°N¡±]
¡°Dang it!¡± Alexis whispered, before typing, ¡°Okay, another obvious one, but I¡¯m assuming you have already tried to find your body?¡±
The lantern floated over to where the morse code cheat sheet was. This must be important if she is checking how to get it right.
[¡°DUH¡±]
Nope, guess she was just putting in the extra effort to be rude.
Just then, Jen appeared wearing the clothes she had the day before, with the one change being that she was still wearing Alexis¡¯s t-shirt. She better not think I am gonna let her keep that shirt, it is super hard to find merch for Meitantei Tensei.
The beauty of typing everything up on the computer meant everything that had been talked about was there for Jen to read and catch up. Alexis simply pointed to each of the questions and said what Pam¡¯s answer had been. When they were finished, Jen got out her phone to reply.
¡°lex,¡± Jen typed in all lowercase, as was her usual, ¡°of course she looked 4 her body, like duh?¡±
¡°I am just trying to be thorough!¡± Alexis said out loud, before typing, ¡°Specifically, I mean the area where you were attacked.¡± I definitely should have just phrased it that way at the start.
[¡°C¡±]
Alexis¡¯s first plan of action when she was brainstorming this morning was that if Pam hadn¡¯t already searched the area where she was attacked, they definitely needed to start. Checking the last place you remember having something is basically Finding Lost Things 101.
Even if the lost thing in this case is someone¡¯s body.
Jen typed, ¡°k so wat now?¡±
For Alexis¡¯s second plan of action, she needed to know where Pam could even go. Pam had said she couldn¡¯t go home, but she seemed able to go to the Town Hall just fine. Granted the Town Hall, Hoplite¡¯s parking lot and Alexis¡¯s condo were all within a few miles of each other.
¡°Okay,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°for this next idea, if it works, it is basically guaranteed to find exactly where Pam''s body is.¡±
¡°and wats that?¡± Jen typed.
¡°We use math!¡± Alexis typed, proudly.
¡°srsly lex?¡± Jen typed.
¡°Yes ¡®srsly¡¯, think about it!¡± Alexis typed, ¡°Pam, last night you implied that your range was always a certain distance away from you right?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
¡°Okay, and that means it maxed out the same length away from you on all sides of you?¡± Alexis typed, ¡°Like your
couldn¡¯t go farther out in front of you than it could behind you?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
¡°A shape that is defined by being equidistant from a center point means the shape of your range is a circle, which is pretty much the norm for powers. I never tested it but I am pretty sure that ¡¯s activation range is the same shape.¡±
¡°lex, y didnt u just ask if her range was a circle?¡± Jen typed, ¡°she probably already new that w/o u needing to logic it out¡±
[¡°C¡±]
Jen please stop making me look bad in front of the supervillain. Don¡¯t really want to find out what happens if she thinks I can¡¯t help her anymore.
It was at this moment that Alexis pondered just how much fear and strife Pam had caused her unintentionally and shuddered to think about what she could and would do if she wanted to cause mayhem on purpose. Most of the tactics the federal government had for dealing with rogue psychics relied on how psychics were always vulnerable when they were asleep, or that they still needed to eat and drink.
But if Pam disappeared when she was asleep, and if she really didn¡¯t need food or water, depending on her range she could potentially threaten everyone in the town¡¯s safety. She wouldn¡¯t do that though, right?
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Jen poked Alexis in the side, she had typed out a message, ¡°so wat does it matter if the range is a circle anyway?¡±
¡°Oh, yeah, sorry.¡± Alexis typed, ¡°Anyway, if we assume that the range of Pam¡¯s talent is still a circle. And also that it is still centered on her body, that means that if Pam moves her
as far as she can in any direction.
¡°Once she hits the edge of the range we can drop a pin on my GPS, we do that a few more times, measure out the distance between each, and with a bit of trigonometry we can find out the radius and the circles centerpoint.¡±
Not to mention prove that my geometry teacher was super wrong for flunking me sophomore year.
¡°and thats where her body might b?¡± Jen typed.
¡°If her talent works the same as before, just with a bigger range,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°then that is exactly where her body is gonna be.¡±
Though if Pam is still alive like I think she is, because again, ghosts aren¡¯t real, there may be a chance someone moves her body, which will definitely throw off the math a bit.
¡°so we just, wat?¡± Jen typed, ¡°ride round town?¡±
Alexis typed, ¡°Honestly I think it is a pretty smart plan.¡±
Just then the lantern behind them started to flash. [¡°N¡±]
¡°What?¡± Alexis typed, ¡°You don¡¯t think so?¡±
Before Pam could respond, Jen replied, ¡°she thinks ur gettin cocky¡± What is she supposed to be the translator now?
[¡°C¡±]
I was proud of my idea, sue me!
¡°Anyway,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°I have a backup plan if this doesn¡¯t work, but it may or may not be time sensitive. I think we should see if we can track her cell phone. That is assuming you had one Pam?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
¡°y wud it b time sensitive?¡± Jen typed.
¡°You know¡ Because like, isn¡¯t it gonna run out of batteries?¡± Alexis typed.
¡°it def ran out of juice already lex,¡± Jen typed, ¡°but that shouldnt matter¡±
¡°Really?¡± Alexis typed.
¡°havent u used ¡®Find My Cell¡¯ b4?¡± Jen typed.
¡°Um, no? If I lost my personal phone I would just trace my steps. And if that didn¡¯t work I would just call it with my work phone.¡±
¡°lex u can b such an old lady sometimes¡± Jen typed, ¡°but anyway no, it saves watevs was the last location, we just need the login info¡±
Alexis tried to brush off the insult because at least Jen was giving her some good news.
¡°Okay,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°then let¡¯s do the math plan first, because I have a good feeling we won¡¯t even need to track her cell phone.¡±
13:14. Tuesday, December 5th, 2023. Alexis¡¯s Condo.
They were gonna need to track the cell phone.
The first hiccup in Alexis¡¯s plan was logistical. Pam could in theory ride in the car, but it was safe to say neither Alexis or Jen wanted to be the one to volunteer to have the talent that was prone to fits of destruction in their car.
This meant that Pam had to ride outside of the car. Speed wise she could keep up, but when she hit the range of her talent she wasn¡¯t able to communicate that fact. It also meant having a flying lantern traveling next to the car, which was an easy way to attract attention. Even in a world of psychics, that was at minimum notable.
Specifically because Pam kept bumping the lantern into the side of Alexis¡¯s car.
Eventually they were able to find a groove, with Jen driving and Alexis regularly checking the status for the lantern to see if Pam hit her range¡¯s boundary or had any messages for the two of them.
Once this was settled they were able to start putting the points down in Alexis¡¯s GPS. The first of which was on Main Street not far away from Alexis¡¯s condo. Once they had their first point, they traveled up Main Street, passed the town hall, until they reached the parking lot for the better Duncan¡¯s Coffee.
To sell that they weren¡¯t up to anything strange they decided to get some food. Or maybe Alexis wanted more than just the instant mac she had for breakfast.
While they ordered, Pam went up ahead and traveled down Pinewood Avenue. Leaving the lantern behind to draw less suspicion.
When she came back she had explained the easiest accessible point was in a park and led them down Pinewood, passing the high school into Riverview Park. They drove down South Street but it wasn¡¯t until it merged onto the highway that went over the river bend into Midport that Pam reached the limit of her range again.
For this they decided against trying to get an exact point.
They met up back at her house, and this is where the math was supposed to begin. Or it would have until Jen had innocently asked how Alexis was accounting for each point''s elevation.
¡°Man¡¡± Alexis whined.
¡°What?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Pam,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°your talent used to have the same limit in every direction, right?¡±
Jen typed, ¡°lex, we already established that its a circle¡±
¡°I know but wait,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°it includes above and below you, right?¡±
The lantern waited a beat before responding.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°That means it isn¡¯t a circle,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°it''s a sphere.¡± I feel like such an idiot. I got so caught up in trying to be clever I missed an obvious solution.
¡°k?¡± Jen typed ¡°wat does that change?¡±
¡°Not much for calculating
¡¯s new range,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°but it means there was a *way* easier solution for finding the midpoint where Pam¡¯s body might be.¡±
Jen typed, ¡°and that is?¡±
¡°Pam,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°try flying as far up as you can. When you are at the highest you can go, you¡¯ll be at the midpoint where your body should be. Since we have the data anyway, I might as well calculate the range.¡±
Both these methods yielded the following results:
*Not to scale
The first important info was that the center of
¡¯s range was no longer her body, instead it was centered on the Hoplite parking lot. Both Alexis¡¯s math and Pam¡¯s flying confirmed this to be the case.
But Alexis wasn¡¯t really sure exactly what this meant. It felt like a talent that only worked within a specific location was probably not unprecedented even if she had never heard of it before. But she wasn¡¯t sure what caused it.
It did jell with Pam¡¯s explanation from the previous night regarding how the more limitations a talent had, the stronger it was. So a location based limitation was maybe the trade off Pam needed to exponentially increase its range.
And even if Alexis didn¡¯t fully understand how it worked, she did know that there were ways for a psychic to overcome a talent¡¯s limitation. Maybe that meant they could also gain new ones in exchange for more power or versatility.
All this still didn¡¯t account for Pam¡¯s new ability to see out her
, but maybe the trade off there was the same reason why she couldn¡¯t feel her body. But Alexis needed more information to be sure though.
After doing the math, Alexis did know that
¡¯s new range was roughly 10 miles in diameter, which covered a huge swath of Harmon.
Though it didn¡¯t cover all of it, since the Town Hall was actually way closer to the town¡¯s center Alexis¡¯s map made it seem. Somehow still managed to get both the town¡¯s Duncan¡¯s though. Lucky her.
Once that had been dealt with, it was time to check where Pam¡¯s phone was last seen.
Jen typed, ¡°k, so how do we wanna do this?¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡± Alexis typed.
Jen typed, ¡°do u really wanna log in 2 a murder victim¡¯s account on ur personal laptop?¡±
Alexis typed back, ¡°Jen she isn¡¯t dead.¡±
[¡°N¡±]
¡°Pam you aren¡¯t dead.¡± Alexis typed. The lantern floated over to the cheat sheet.
[¡°PRETTY SURE IM DED¡±]
Alexis had to admit that the case for Pam being alive was getting a little thin on the ground. Pam didn¡¯t seem to need to eat, her talent¡¯s range wasn¡¯t connected to her body, and the last thing she remembered was being choked out in the parking lot.
But Alexis refused to believe it. She was sure if psychics could still control their talent after they had already died it wouldn¡¯t have just made the national news, it would be global news. And this was all just to say that Alexis could not, would not, accept the existence of ghosts.
¡°You guys believe whatever you want,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°but either way we literally have the ¡®murder victim¡¯ right here. And it''s not like either one of us could have been the attacker.¡±
Jen typed, ¡°k, but when the feds come nockin on ur door, dont say i didnt warn u¡±
Alexis typed back, ¡°Noted.¡±
They then proceeded to have Pam share her login info. A way more arduous process since morse code doesn¡¯t not distinguish between lowercase and capital letters. And a lot of special characters weren¡¯t included on the cheat sheet.
¡°Okay,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°so it''s St4bbrM(*)vieRulz with specifically one ¡®L¡¯?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
¡°Fucking, finally!¡± Jen said out loud, before typing, ¡°k that 1 worked, were in!¡±
Now that they were logged into Pam¡¯s account, Alexis opened up ¡®Find My Cell¡¯. The first bit of information it told them was that, of course, Pam¡¯s phone was off and couldn¡¯t be connected to. But unsurprisingly, the last known location was Harmon. Specifically, the Hoplite parking lot. With the time logged a little after 11 PM on November 29th.
¡°So we did all this for nothing!¡± Jen said, with more than a little frustration. They had been at this all day, so it made sense she would feel that way.
¡°I don¡¯t see it that way at all,¡± Alexis typed. Even if this had technically been another dead end when it came to finding Pam¡¯s body, there were still two important bits of information Alexis was able to glean from this.
¡°Now we at least have a concrete timeline for when the attack was, and maybe we even learned something about the attacker.¡±
Whoever had done this had more than all likelihood knew to dump the phone. So whoever they were dealing with was someone who was either an exceptionally fast thinker, or a very meticulous planner. Or they just got lucky and the phone broke on is own.
But this combined with the ruthless efficiency in the way the attack was executed meant this whole thing may have been premeditated. And if that is true, I still didn¡¯t know who could pull something like this off, or why¡
Ch 24. Reconsideration
They were out of leads regarding where to search for Pam¡¯s body but that didn¡¯t mean they were out of leads in general. Before, Alexis had hoped that by finding Pam¡¯s body they could catch whoever had attacked her, but now that her ideas for that had failed she would have to approach the problem in the other direction.
If Alexis caught whoever attacked Pam, there was a good chance she could find wherever her body was.
But how the hell was Alexis supposed to catch someone that strong anyway? As much as Alexis liked mysteries, she wasn¡¯t a professional detective. She didn¡¯t have any resources or authority to investigate it. Not to mention, Alexis still had her job which she had done nothing for since clocking in this morning.
And how long would it take for her to find the attacker? Her previous ideas had been good because they would have solved the situation pretty much instantly. But trying to find the attacker meant a longer process of hunting down suspects, alibis, and doing some pretty intense research. All of which would need to be done covertly because there is no way Alexis would survive if her attacker set their sights on her.
She needed to think about this long term if she was gonna have any hope of success. And also she needed to ask herself if it was worth doing at all?
It was at this point the boost in confidence she felt when she was in her problem solving mode started to fade. When it did, it let her start processing her own feelings. It wasn¡¯t that long ago (literally yesterday) that she had been convinced a powerful psychic was trying to kill her. What the hell have I been doing?
Sure right now she was choosing to help Pam, but would Alexis really want to spend all this time (and especially money) to help someone she didn¡¯t even know? Not to mention the worst kind of person Alexis could imagine.
Pam was a powerful psychic who actively chose to self identify as evil. Just from what she had talked about last night, she clearly had no issues using those powers in a fight. By definition that meant she was not only willing to hurt people, but in her case probably has!
Forgiving Pam for a broken window, for a broken mirror, a few new holes in her, and now a few more dents in her car was one thing. Heck, most people would say it would be actively suicidal to pick a fight over it. Even forgetting the fact that Pam probably didn¡¯t have access to money.
But how much could a person reasonably be expected to help? And it isn¡¯t like Pam is all that thankful about the situation either!
Alexis came to the conclusion that she had done more than enough considering the situation.
So instead of brainstorming ways in which she could solve the identity of the attacker, Alexis decided to start brainstorming ways she could neatly sever ties without getting a floating lantern thrown at her head or even more holes in her wall.
Which was a very real threat, Alexis was certain that Pam probably didn¡¯t love that she and Jen knew her real name and secret. More than likely only telling them to aid in her rescue.
But ignoring the threat of psychic harm, however, Alexis had another issue she needed to navigate: Jen.
The more that Alexis got to know Jen, the less Alexis felt like she understood her. She was free spirited, socially confident, attractive, and easy going. None of which were things Alexis would ever describe herself as. It made it baffling to Alexis that Jen chose to not just put the work into maintaining a friendship with Alexis, or even just put up with her numerous idiosyncrasies, but also that Jen was (as she would put it) ride or die for Alexis.
One of Alexis¡¯s theories was that Jen still had feelings for Alexis she was suppressing. Though this theory opened up new questions of why she thought Alexis would be a quality partner. Especially after it was settled that they ¡®didn¡¯t click romantically¡¯.
Alexis¡¯s more likely theory was that Jen just easily felt pity for certain kinds of people. This may even inform many of Jen¡¯s more radical political leanings. But if Alexis wanted to sever ties, this made Jen a potential liability. Jen and Pam clearly got along, and for whatever reason Jen seemed to hold no amount of fear or suspicion toward Pam.
If Alexis wanted to get out of this situation, she would need to suggest a course of action that would not draw any suspicion from Pam and looked like she was still trying to help to not alarm Jen. All the while giving Alexis the chance to put as much distance between her and Pam as possible.
The easiest suggestion would be to suggest Pam go to someone else making this situation their problem instead. And surely Pam never expected Alexis to personally solve her situation anyway. In all likelihood it sounded like she was desperate and Alexis was just the first person she recognized who had a talent that could protect her from Pam.
Even though I don¡¯t want to use my talent to protect myself, I would just rather not be in danger!
In terms of people Alexis thought she could suggest Pam could go to, Alexis¡¯s first thought was the police. But besides the fact that Chief Sobol had made it clear he hated the costume game, and would probably not be inclined to devote town resources to help a former supervillain, Pam had already established she wouldn¡¯t be inclined to go to them anyway.
Alexis¡¯s next thought had a bit more likelihood, which was the other members of Graveyard Bash.
Pam had gone out of her way to clarify that she was the ¡®LEADER¡¯ of Graveyard Bash, so why couldn¡¯t she rely on one of her subordinates there to help her out?
This only had the one downside which was that even though Pam had chosen to divulge her personal and costumed identity, Alexis wondered if she would be willing to give out the phone number of one of her compatriots.
But then Alexis came up with a brilliant plan, which was rather than suggest a specific person, Alexis should just ask if there was anyone Pam thought could help her out.
All that was left now was to make the ask. Pam could keep the lantern. And of course Alexis would explain the situation to whoever Pam needed her to.
Pam probably already knew someone who lived within
¡¯s range, didn''t have to worry about getting hurt by Pam¡¯s unstable talent, and maybe knew morse code. MorseMore was very popular after all. It was the 1,679,616th most downloaded app. That¡¯s basically sixth place¡ If you square it three times.
There were definitely tons of people who fit this criteria.
¡°I tried everything I could think of, but this is all just a little beyond me. Is there anyone you want us to reach out to?¡± Alexis typed. I am super glad that when I am writing instead of talking I don¡¯t have to worry about sounding nervous.
Alexis hoped she wouldn¡¯t immediately react violently, but thankfully in her previous bout of insanity induced by her love of problem solving, Alexis now knew that her condo was not that far from the border. Meaning she could always grab Jen and book it to her car and drive off. Replacing her stuff would be a chore, but that was what insurance was for.
She would just stay at a hotel or at Jen¡¯s place till it blew over. Plus she already was used to working remotely.
The lantern floated over to the cheat sheet before eventually flashing back a response.
[¡°EVERYONE I NO¡±]
There was a pause.
[¡°IS IN MIDPORT BUT¡±]
There was another pause. When Pam had to communicate longer sentences, like last night, this tended to happen a lot. Alexis had gotten into the habit of waiting a bit to make sure Pam was done talking before asking a follow up question.
[¡°I CAN BOUNCE¡±]
Alexis spoke these statements outloud for Jen¡¯s benefit, because even if Alexis was a coward at heart, she drew the line at lying to a friend. Plus she wasn¡¯t fast enough on her feet to think of statements that would help Alexis get her way more than Pam¡¯s own words.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°where will u sleep tho? and wat about ur killer?¡± Jen typed, ¡°if u dont finish ur unfinished business u cant pass on!¡±
[¡°C¡±]
During the pause in the conversation while the lantern had floated back over to the cheat sheet to check something, Alexis had to forcibly sit on her own hands to keep herself from typing out a follow up question. This has to be a joke, because how can they both be so sure that Pam¡¯s unfinished business has to do with her killer? Just because it was her last thought before she passed out?
There was no way to know for sure, but Alexis figured a majority of murder victims probably had some form of regret regarding the fact that they were being murdered. Why don¡¯t all of them become ghosts? And how do they think a ghost even needs to finish their business before moving on. As many movies have ghosts just sticking around until someone exorcizes them.
It also did not make sense to Alexis why Pam would want to pass on. As she is now she can still live some kind of life. If she got the right accommodations, she could read books, message loved ones, maybe even find meaningful employment. She would just need a place to stay.
[¡°CAN CRASH OUTSIDE¡±]
¡°thats bs!¡± Jen typed, ¡°y not just stay w/ lex until we figure out wat 2 do?¡±
Shit, no this is the opposite of what I want! How the hell am I supposed to get out of this?
Alexis couldn¡¯t object without Jen insisting. Alexis would need to change tacts then. Maybe if she could get Jen alone she could convince her to let Pam fend for herself. Just then Alexis realized a course of action that could get her there.
¡°If it is just for a few days, I wouldn¡¯t have an issue. Since you can¡¯t go home, would you want us to grab some of your stuff?¡± Alexis typed.
This way Alexis had an excuse to get Jen alone and someplace that was clearly out of Pam¡¯s range. And by agreeing she got to set the terms for how long Pam could stay without seeming rude.
[¡°C¡±]
Mission successful! Now all she would have to do is convince Jen they were both way in over their head. Which shouldn¡¯t be hard to do, since they were both way in over their head.
[¡°WAS GONNA SAY NO¡±]
That would have been a way better out!
¡°at least this way u wont b alone¡± Jen typed, ¡°and having a roof over ur head is important¡±
[¡°C¡±]
Alexis hated that Jen was making good points. It was gonna make it harder to argue that this wasn¡¯t their problem. That was gonna be a problem for later.
¡°Okay,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°for now start brainstorming a list of things you may want. I have to catch up on my work but we can go after five when I clock out.¡±
17:09. Tuesday, December 5th, 2023. Alexis¡¯s Condo.
¡°And that is everything you want?¡± Alexis typed.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°Alright,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°we will be back in a little bit. I¡¯ll leave my phone here on the MorseMore App so you can practice. If we run into any issues I¡¯ll text you so you can know what is going on.¡±
She wouldn¡¯t be able to text back, but it would hopefully be a nice gesture.
Alexis and Jen hopped into the latter¡¯s car. When they were inside and buckled up, and started on the way. Jen was driving so they threw on some music, some love song that Alexis had never heard of played over the radio. Alexis and Jen talked about music for a little bit.
Eventually, while Alexis was still working up the courage to have the conversation she wanted to have, Jen spoke up.
¡°Don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice you saying Pam was allowed to stay for only a few days,¡± Jen said.
Caught off guard, Alexis struggled to not feel defensive.
¡°You¡¯re the one who volunteered at my place without asking me,¡± Alexis said, trying to stay calm, ¡°I have the right not to want people in my home, and it isn¡¯t even technically my house¡±
¡°Omg Lex,¡± Jen responded, ¡°don¡¯t pretend your mom wouldn¡¯t be cool with it. When I was worried about getting evicted she was the first one to say that I can crash at your place.¡±
Alexis should have figured that reasoning wouldn¡¯t work on Jen.
¡°Yeah,¡± Alexis said ¡°but you don¡¯t make holes in the wall.¡±
¡°She can¡¯t help it!¡± Jen exclaimed, ¡°Seriously, I know you can be a bit anti-psychic, but that¡¯s just victim blaming.¡±
¡°See, this is exactly why I hate this ¡®psychic rights¡¯ nonsense! I am not unreasonable for not wanting to be around people who can kill me any more than what is required of me.¡±
¡°If you really feel that way, why not just quit your job!¡± Jen yelled. Certainly wouldn¡¯t have met Pam if I had!
¡°I¡¯m not gonna quit¡¡± Alexis said, ¡°Lots of people have jobs they hate. And I get paid good money.¡±
¡°People who work for drug companies that overcharge on insulin probs say the same thing¡¡± Jen said.
¡°Yeah,¡± Alexis said, ¡°and you don¡¯t see them quitting. And I definitely hate my job a lot less than they do.¡±
¡°Whatevs¡¡± Jen said.
There was a long pause in the conversation. They passed by a sign that welcomed them to Fair Hollow.
¡°So what? If I awakened a talent like Pam¡¯s tomorrow you would stop hanging out with me? You wouldn¡¯t let me crash at your place if I needed it?¡± Jen asked.
¡°That¡¯s not gonna happen Jen,¡± Alexis answered.
¡°It could!¡± Jen responded, ¡°I¡¯m within the right age!¡±
¡°No, I mean that I wouldn¡¯t stop being friends with you!¡± Alexis shouted back, ¡°I¡ care about you too much¡¡±
¡°Then that is worse,¡± Jen said.
¡°How?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°It means that the real reason you don¡¯t wanna help Pam¡¯s because you just don¡¯t care enough,¡± Jen said.
¡°Yeah, and why should I care?¡± Alexis responded, ¡°I don¡¯t know her. I met her once before this, and the second time I met her she accidentally threw a car part at me. And if my talent hadn¡¯t stopped it then I may have died right there in the parking lot.
¡°Then because I didn¡¯t die, she broke into my house and pretty sure she snuck into my bathroom too while I was in the shower. That is literal serial killer behavior!¡±
Not to mention she has been pretty rude.
¡°You aren¡¯t seeing this from her perspective at all!¡± Jen interjected, ¡°She was probably pretty desperate. She is stuck in a town she fully doesn¡¯t live in with no one to turn to with a talent that can hurt people if she isn¡¯t careful. She was right to reach out to you.¡±
¡°So what?¡± Alexis asked, ¡°I got a power that I didn¡¯t ask for and that means I have to start using it to help people? That is literally the argument military recruiters and the police use to get psychics to enlist.¡±
¡°You are so stubborn! I don¡¯t just mean your talent! I meant because you can probably figure out who killed her!¡± Jen said.
¡°How? Literally how?¡± Alexis asked, ¡°I am not a PI, I don¡¯t even run the investigations for the TAC. You tell me how I am supposed to find out who attacked her.¡± Alexis had to hold back from tacking on that they also didn¡¯t know if Pam was dead, it would seem too much like a nitpick. Though the leaving point unaddressed ate at her.
¡°Alexis you have been working on this for like a day and you came up with two plans that almost immediately would have solved part of it,¡± Jen said.
¡°Wasn¡¯t like they worked though,¡± Alexis responded.
¡°Fine, I¡¯ll pull over, and you can look me straight into my eyes and tell me that you didn¡¯t have another idea we could try. Heck,¡± Jen said, ¡°I bet in the time you were finishing up your work you thought of at least two.¡±
She had actually thought of three. One was to get a list of people in the costume game because they would all be potential suspects. Another was to reach out to an expert on how talents interact with each other to determine what kind may have been used against Pam. And the third was to check for other missing persons in the area to see if this was a one off or part of a pattern. Oh and even though their headquarters is out of range, Pam can probably search the warehouse she used to work at for any clues. Since they may be involved.
¡°You were just thinking of more,¡± Jen asked, ¡°weren''t you Lex.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t help it!¡± Alexis admitted, ¡°And how did you even know?¡±
¡°You just get a look on your face,¡± Jen said. They pulled into the parking lot and started to head into the building
¡°Aabria from work just told me the same thing yesterday¡¡± Alexis said.
¡°Lex,¡± Jen said, "that is just proving my point that you are good at this kind of thing.¡±
¡°I still don¡¯t have any authority to investigate this,¡± Alexis said.
¡°P sure this is the first murder in history where we can actually ask the victim,¡± Jen responded. The building was unlocked like Pam said it would be, and they walked up the stairs to the third floor.
¡°Please stop implying this is a murder, it is really bothering me. And besides,¡± Alexis said, ¡°I didn''t mean the approval of the victim. I meant that I don¡¯t have legal standing to investigate. Suspects aren¡¯t gonna let me ask them questions, and if I find the attacker I won¡¯t exactly have the ability to arrest them.¡±
¡°Lex, if anyone can figure that out it''s you,¡± Jen said.
¡°I am glad that you feel that way, but I just don¡¯t know.¡±
Eventually they had to stop talking because when they reached Pam¡¯s apartment, there were two cops knocking at the door.
Ch 25. Wellness Check
Alexis tried to start gaming out the different scenarios. Did someone try to break in? Are they here because Pam just got framed for a crime and they are here to arrest her? Are they here because Pam actually did a crime? Before she could decide on which outcome was more likely Jen cut Alexis¡¯s thoughts short.
¡°Excuse me officers, is there any trouble?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Evening ladies. We got a wellness check for Pamela Gallagher. Would that happen to be either of you two?¡± One of the officers said.
¡°No but I hope she is okay,¡± Jen said, ¡°Did they say what the reason for the wellness check was for?¡±
¡°Her work hasn¡¯t heard back from her in a few days,¡± the cop said, ¡°just want to make sure she is okay.¡±
¡°Maybe she will come back,¡± Jen said.
¡°Hope not!¡± said a voice behind them, when they turned around they saw a squat looking man holding a key ring. The man matched the description Pam gave of her landlord. ¡°I hope that bitch gets out of my hair too. Nothing but a constant headache.¡± Well he sure seems pleasant.
¡°Pam isn¡¯t that bad, just misunderstood,¡± Jen said, glancing back at Alexis. Now really isn¡¯t the time to make a point.
The landlord just waved Jen off dismissively.
¡°Anyway boys,¡± the landlord said, ¡°I think I have the key right here.¡±
¡°You''re letting them into Pam¡¯s apartment?¡± Jen asked.
¡°What¡¯s it to ya?¡± The landlord asked.
¡°Did you ask for a warrant? Because if not you aren¡¯t supposed to let them in. It¡¯s a breach of privacy.¡± Jen please stop antagonizing him, we still need him to let us in the apartment remember?
After Jen¡¯s eviction scare, she learned a lot about tenant rights, which was a field Alexis has no experience with. Alexis did remember Jen explaining to her once pretty vaguely that landlords were not supposed to just enter apartments without permission from the tenant.
But also Alexis wasn¡¯t sure what Jen got out of not obstructing their ability to confirm that Pam wasn¡¯t here. They were just here for some of Pam¡¯s stuff. It might be true that if the cops think Pam was missing it might be harder to get access to the apartment, if they wanted to search it, but also they weren¡¯t sure if Pam would want the stuff if it meant Jen and Alexis drew attention to themselves.
Alexis also just wanted to limit every interaction she had with the police as much as possible.
¡°Listen girl,¡± the landlord said, ¡°I tried calling her.¡±
¡°What is your relationship to Pamela again?¡± One of the cops asked.
Yup this is why we should have just waited till after they left. Getting involved with the police is never a good idea.
Alexis wasn¡¯t sure what the order of operations for a missing persons case was, but Alexis doubted that the officers had any reason to stay for the apartment that long after they were able to confirm Pam wasn¡¯t there. But now no matter what they did they would look suspicious.
They could pass themselves off as Pam¡¯s friends, which could backfire in a missing persons case because they may be brought in for questioning if the cops pursue a missing persons case. Or they could stick closer to the truth that Alexis only met Pam once in the course of her job, which would raise the question of why they are in the building. Alexis didn¡¯t see a good out for them, and navigating social situations like this wasn¡¯t her strong suit.
The original plan was to pass themselves off as two of Poltergeist''s underlings, her so-called ¡®ghouls¡¯, which apparently Pam¡¯s landlord was vaguely aware of enough to know not to get involved. But there was no way to do that in front of a cop.
¡°We¡¯re just friends of one of her neighbors, but PG is pretty well known,¡± Jen said, ¡°she¡¯s basically a neighborhood hero. My guess is she probs just ghosted from her job.¡±
Alexis couldn¡¯t tell but it seemed the landlord straightened up a bit.
¡°Is that the case?¡± one of the cops asked.
¡°Totes, she def makes sure the area feels safe,¡± Jen said before turning to the landlord, ¡°I¡¯m sure even you can cop to that.¡±
¡°Yup,¡± the landlord chimed in, ¡°that uppity bitch definitely kept the crime down.¡±
¡°Really?¡± the other officer said, intrigued.
¡°Uh-huh,¡± the landlord said, ¡°Pammy got on my case about keeping the outside lit. Costs me a ton in utilities but we haven¡¯t had a mugging since.¡±
¡°All the more reason it is important to check up on her.¡±
The landlord nodded, absentmindedly before looking at his key ring. ¡°You know what, I just remembered,¡± the landlord said, ¡°I had to give her my copy because the forgetful bitch kept losing hers. If she doesn¡¯t turn up by tomorrow, I have a locksmith who I can call.¡±
Alexis had no idea how Jen had managed to turn the situation around like that. The officers just asked a few more followup questions before leaving. They hadn¡¯t even asked for their names. When the cops were gone, the landlord turned to them and asked, ¡°What the hell is that bitch up to now?¡±
Now that they were back on track, they were able to stick to the original story. They needed part of her costume because ¡®Poltergeist¡¯ was invited to something called a ¡®tournament arc¡¯, which was the costume game term for a fighting tournament. Even as an avid anime watcher, Alexis had to cringe. Like, just call it a tournament? Is it not enough for these nerds to be so riddled with Comic Book Syndrome that they act like they are in an anime, they also need to talk like they are watching it too?
¡°Well good,¡± the landlord had said, ¡°maybe it will be quiet in the building for a bit then.¡±
¡°Was any of that stuff about PG keeping the building safe true?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Oh yeah,¡± the landlord said, ¡°big time. But the lights thing was some other bitchy karen.¡±
Keeping the neighborhood well lit didn¡¯t really strike Alexis as a ¡®karen¡¯ move. Considering the Karen in question was probably just worried about keeping people safe at night.
¡°The psycho bitch just manages to scare off the crazier psychos,¡± the landlord continued.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
In recent years the term, ¡®psycho¡¯, has carried a lot more weight than it used to in the context of psychics. Those more inclined for psychic rights consider it a slur, which bothered Alexis to no end because it was already a derogatory term used to vilify neurodivergent people.
Even the underlying stereotype a psychic getting called a psycho represented was that psychics were all being driven crazy by their powers. To Alexis, the problem with that stereotype wasn¡¯t that it was false, it was that there is nothing morally wrong with being neurodivergent. In fact if Comic Book Syndrome was a real mental disorder Alexis would definitely be less inclined to poke fun at those it afflicts so much.
It was similar to how some straight guys got called ¡®gay¡¯. That didn¡¯t make the word a derogatory term for straight guys, because it wasn¡¯t rooted in an anti-straight bias, it was rooted in homophobia.
In short, it did bother Alexis when a psychic was called a psycho, but only because your average neurodivergent person was probably a better person than your average psychic. Especially if you factor in the Costume Game.
The landlord continued to rant about Pam, explaining how she extorts him for lower rates on her rent, and all the ruckus she causes. Alexis just wondered why he didn¡¯t go to the cops since the man clearly did not have the same moral troubles she would have about it. As it stood it she still wasn¡¯t sure who was actually getting the better end of the deal.
He let them into Pam¡¯s apartment, and immediately she realized Pam was definitely getting the better end of the deal.
The place was a warzone. There weren¡¯t just holes in the wall, a whole damn piece of it was hanging off. There were bottles and cans everywhere. Food and take out containers on the floor. So much that she couldn¡¯t even see whether she had hardwood or carpeting. Alexis genuinely could not believe Pam lived this way. She had warned them of a mess but not this!
¡°Was she robbed!?¡± Alexis asked, not being able to keep the thought to herself.
The landlord smiled, ¡°First time seeing your bosses lair, huh? I¡¯ll leave dumb asses to it.¡± After that he left.
The kitchen was near the entrance, so one of the first things Alexis saw was the fridge, which was covered in as many dents as it had magnets. Alexis wasn¡¯t sure if it would even be functional. Some utensils were fully embedded in the wall.
There was nothing in the sink or dish rack, and the only plates Alexis could see were made of paper. She guessed that Pam probably didn¡¯t own any actual dishware which was probably for the best since that would just mean having to worry about stepping on broken glass.
So happy I made sure to keep her as far away from my kitchen as possible.
Alexis genuinely wasn¡¯t sure how much of this was because of Pam¡¯s talent, or how much she was just a hoarder. She had said her talent worked best when she was angry, but did that mean when she relaxed it just went rampant? Why not just choose to not use it?
But her talent was the only explanation for some of what Alexis was seeing, because it wasn¡¯t like Pam could just rip off part of a wall on her own. Regardless, it did serve to give Alexis a chilling thought.
Everything Pam has done so far may have been her holding back.
Alexis was really hoping Pam would be out of her hair before her house started to look like this. But for that to happen they needed to grab her stuff.
And the stuff they were supposed to grab was pretty strange, though Alexis was hard pressed to think of what she would want if she was in the same situation.
In total the list was:
- Her Poltergeist costume,
- Some DVD¡¯s,
- A few photos,
- Some decorations,
- Her birth certificate, some recent mail, and her Social Security card.
The latter of which was Alexis¡¯s idea. Since Pam''s drivers license was presumably with her body, it was already gonna be an uphill climb to prove her identity. She didn¡¯t even have fingerprints anymore. So having easy access to some of these documents would at least make that situation a little easier.
This of course was contingent on the idea that Pam could be convinced that her life wasn¡¯t over. Which for Pam¡¯s sake Alexis hoped that was the case.
¡°So you want to split up?¡± Jen asked.
They ended up splitting up with Jen taking the living room, and Alexis taking the bathroom.
Pam¡¯s room was as messy as everything else. But it was better decorated. There were clearly some attempts to cover the holes in the walls. In one she had haphazardly stuck a sword in it, with a full venetian mask dangling from its hilt. The other attempts were more typical, with the room being littered with posters. Some were of playbills from musicals that Alexis had never heard of, while others were for movies that she had also never heard of.
It wasn¡¯t all posters though, there were orange and purple christmas lights, a few model skeletons. Alexis guessed it may have been a gladius? On a different wall there were just a bunch of plastic chains, which she guessed maybe fit the ghost theme? The weirdest thing was a jolly roger flag, but instead of black it was a rainbow. What a weird form of allyship.
Alexis never got the appeal of pride parades, or pride flags personally. Jen was the complete opposite, with her place being just littered with the things.
Pam hadn¡¯t asked for everything, just a few of her decorations, and said if there was anything Jen or Alexis wanted they could have. The only thing Alexis guessed she would even want was the sword, but Alexis was not really into the whole ¡®sword lesbian¡¯ thing. Still, she stuffed it and the mask into her bag.
She figured the posters would be next easiest to grab, since they weren¡¯t framed, just held with scotch tape. So she went through the process of taking them off the walls, proving her theory that they were in fact covering holes. She rolled up a few and put them in her bag.
That covers decorations, next she said she wanted some stuffed animal.
Alexis was a bit surprised that Pam had wanted that. Pam didn¡¯t seem like the kind of girl who liked soft fluffy things. Though Alexis did catch her watching animal videos over Jen¡¯s shoulder this morning. Alexis found it sitting on top of an old box of dryer sheets in the corner of the room.
But when she picked up the orange tiger shark, she saw that instead of dryer sheets, the box was filled with used syringes.
Once the initial shock wore off she saw that there was a vial next to the box, which did seem to be prescribed. Alexis really wanted to look more into it, but she knew that poking into the medical history of someone she barely knew was definitely crossing a line.
Making good time, what¡¯s next?
On top of a dresser that was fully missing a drawer, Alexis was able to find the photos. There were actually a lot of them. Really never took Pam for the sentimental type.
The first photo that caught her eye was a photo of presumably the entirety of Graveyard Bash. They were all dressed up in front of a mural at the side of a building. Alexis had actually seen this mural over on main street in Midport, but the colors were a lot brighter in the photo. If this was graffiti they had tagged, it seems a little unwise to all be posing in front of it. Even if they are wearing masks.
The next photo was actually a strip of photos, they were the kind you might get out of a photo booth. All of them were of a younger looking Pam in a dress in between a boy in an ill fitting suit, and a girl wearing a dress and glasses. There was a thing in the corner marking that it was prom 2015, though Alexis wasn¡¯t sure if that meant this was Pam¡¯s junior or senior year. Something about the picture was a bit more familiar though. But Alexis wasn¡¯t sure what.
The last photo that caught her eye, immediately answered her question.
17:50. Tuesday, December 5th, 2023. Pam¡¯s Apartment, Midport.
¡°Alrighty,¡± Jen said, ¡°Got the dvd¡¯s on the list. Also cleared out her fridge since the food was just gonna go bad. How things lookin¡¯ here?¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Alexis said, ¡°Got a little caught up¡¡±
¡°Snooping through her photos?¡± Jen asked, ¡°Actually, wait lemme see! I just realized I don¡¯t even know what Pam looks like.¡±
¡°Yeah sure,¡± Alexis said, subtly putting the family photo away in her pocket. Jen picked up a more recent photo of Pam on the beach.
¡°Oh wow,¡± Jen said, whistling, ¡°hope you¡¯re right ¡®bout her being alive ¡®cause it would def be a shame if the world misses out on a hottie like this!¡±
When Pam had come to town hall, Alexis also thought she was attractive. To the point that it made her nervous. Now that¡¯s kind of funny looking back.
Jen poked at Alexis. ¡°Hey you good Lex?¡± Jen asked, ¡°This is usually the part where you tsk tsk me¡¡±
¡°Sorry I just¡¡± Alexis said, ¡°I think I changed my mind.¡±
¡°About what?¡± Jen asked.
¡°I think I really want to help Pam,¡± Alexis said.
¡°So you mean¡¡± Jen asked, letting the words hang in the air.
¡°Yeah¡ And I don¡¯t mean just staying at my house. I am going to find who did this to her,¡± Alexis said, ¡°whatever it takes.¡±
No matter how much I don¡¯t want to.
Ch 26. Time For Cats
17:53. Tuesday, December 5th, 2023. Pam¡¯s Apartment, Midport.
Alexis could tell that Jen immediately knew something was off. I mean, we had just gotten done arguing why this isn¡¯t my problem.
Now, here she was, saying she would do whatever it takes.
Jen kept pestering Alexis for more details, which Alexis continually denied.
¡°Listen,¡± Alexis said, ¡°I am doing what you wanted. I am doing the ¡®detective solves the mystery¡¯ thing! So can we please just drop it?¡±
¡°Bestie," Jen said, "I''m just trying to figure out if this is coming from a good place.¡±
¡°So it isn¡¯t enough to do what you want, I have to be doing it for the right reasons?¡± Alexis asked, ¡°Why can¡¯t it just be enough for me and that¡¯s all.¡±
¡°IDK, I worry about you,¡± Jen said, ¡°I just wanted you to let her crash at your place for a bit. Maybe find a few answers. You¡¯re talking like you are gonna get into something dangerous.¡±
¡°Look around Jen!¡± Alexis said, gesturing to the torn up wall, ¡°She is dangerous!¡±
¡°Then why are you suddenly down to help her?¡± Jen asked, without malice or judgment, but seemingly asking out of genuine confusion.
Ugh, Jen can really dig her heels in when she wants to.
Alexis was getting a bit upset. It was more frustrating that Jen wasn¡¯t actually being unreasonable. But at this rate, she would be dragged kicking and screaming into a conversation Alexis was not emotionally prepared for. Worse, Jen wasn¡¯t even really asking to know Alexis¡¯s motivation. Just in ascertaining whether or not it was a positive or negative, which was a can of worms that Alexis was not ready for.
Besides coming to the conclusion she must now help Pam, Alexis hadn¡¯t quite processed her own exact feelings regarding the situation. However, while trying to come up with stalling tactics Alexis thought of a way to get out of the situation.
¡°How about this?¡± Alexis asked, ¡°Regardless of whether or not I am doing this for the right or wrong reason or reasons. I¡¯m still me, have I ever done anything dangerous before?¡±
¡°No,¡± Jen said, shaking her head, ¡°I guess not.¡±
One of the positives of being a known coward is the lowered expectations. Come to think of it, is that why Pam doesn¡¯t treat me with respect?
¡°And if that ever changes you know you will be one of the first to know,¡± Alexis said.
Jen put a finger to her chin. It looked like she was considering something before she replied, ¡°Okay I guess.¡±
After that, they grabbed the rest of the things from the list, and Alexis texted Pam that they would be on their way back soon. In the car, since Alexis still wanted to avoid the questions surrounding Alexis¡¯s newfound reason for helping, mercifully Jen spoke up first.
¡°So a katthaj? Lowkey, seemed kinda basic for what I thought Pam would be into.¡± Jen said.
¡°Sorry, a what?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°You know,¡± Jen said, ¡°the orange tiger shark.¡±
¡°It has a name?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°What weird corner of gay clogger are you on that you somehow missed this?¡± Jen asked.
¡°I¡¯m not on ¡®gay clogger¡¯ I am just on normal clogger!¡± Alexis said, ¡°Where stuffed animals are just stuffed animals. Just because I¡¯m a lesbian doesn¡¯t mean it has to be my whole personality.¡±
¡°Self-hating psychic and a self-hating dyke,¡± Jen said, ¡°woof.¡±
¡°I am not a self-hating lesbian!¡± Alexis declared.
Jen laughed, ¡°Did you really only fight me on the lesbian half?¡±
¡°Well¡¡± Alexis said, ¡°It¡¯s kind of hard not to admit I don¡¯t exactly get along with other psychics.¡±
¡°Something something is the first step to recovery,¡± Jen said.
¡°Anyway, so what is the deal with the tigershark?¡± Alexis asked, trying to get back onto the original topic and avoid having to do any more introspection than she had to.
¡°It¡¯s just a meme that every trans girl has or had one when they were a kid.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Jen said, throwing up her hands, ¡°Ask a trans girl!¡±
To change the subject Alexis decided to ask Jen about something that had been on her mind since this morning.
¡°Okay then¡ Anyway,¡± Alexis said, ¡°I am trying to think of a better alternative to the lantern.¡±
¡°Aw,¡± Jen whined, ¡°I kind of dig the lantern. It fits her spooky vibes tbh.¡±
Alexis rolled her eyes.
¡°You¡¯re not the one who has to stare at it anytime Pam wants to communicate¡± Alexis said, ¡°it is already inconvenient that we have to type or write our messages so she can understand us. If she had something that relied on sound that would at least let her talk across the room.¡±
¡°Like a buzzer?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Yeah,¡± Alexis answered, ¡°but hopefully something that sounds a bit more pleasant.¡±
¡°Do you think you can buy something like that?¡± Jen asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Alexis answered, ¡°our options are pretty limited. We already got lucky with the lantern and I am not sure how much longer that is going to last. In a perfect world, we would want something that can¡¯t be broken and can make light or sound depending on the situation.¡±
¡°Does something like that exist?¡± Jen asked.
¡°Maybe?¡± Alexis said, unsure, ¡°I am not really the technically inclined type. The other thing is that it would be nice if Pam could be able to use the internet on her own.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve thought ¡®bout that,¡± Jen said, ¡°She is probably super bored stuck in your place.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Alexis agreed, ¡°she can easily break plastic though, so most keyboards are out. I know they make things for people with limited motor functions, but I doubt a lot of them will have the durability we need.¡±
¡°What about touch screens?¡± Jen asked.
¡°I thought about that, phone touch screens don¡¯t work because most psychic talents don¡¯t register on them. And we know that is the case for
because she would have at least tried to use it on my phone already.¡±
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
¡°Dang,¡± Jen said.
¡°Yeah¡¡± Alexis said, working through her thought process, ¡°There are other kinds though that work using pressure. Like the kind that were in those handheld game consoles from when we were kids. But again we come to the durability problem.¡±
¡°Maybe instead of trying to find stuff durable enough for Pam,¡± Jen said, ¡°why not just try to work with her on trying not to break things?¡±
Alexis thought about it. She really didn¡¯t know much about how people actually trained their talent. Most of her job mostly revolved around things like how to avoid rampages, because stuff like that kept people safe. In terms of training and developing all Alexis knew was where to find up to date resources. But if Pam could work on not having her talent immediately destroy things, it would open up a lot of options.
¡°Honestly,¡± Alexis said, ¡°that is a really good point.¡±
¡°Plus it would totes prove if she¡¯s alive or dead,¡± Jen added.
¡°How so?¡± Alexis asked.
¡°Ghosts aren¡¯t exactly known for their ability to change. So obs if she does grow then that proves she def isn¡¯t a ghost,¡± Jen said confidently, even though to Alexis this was basically moon logic. Still, Alexis nodded just the same, because she had enough arguments that day.
When they got back to Alexis¡¯s condo, Jen was not able to stay as she had gotten a text from her roommate about her cat, Lord Bakersfield, and was worried about him.
On a side note, Jen had once assured Alexis that her cat¡¯s name was a cat related pun, but Alexis just could not for the life of her see how.
¡°Well can you stay for a bit?¡± Alexis asked as they got out of the car. ¡°If Pam is gonna stay at my place I need to set some ground rules, and the more I think about it the less I think she actually respects me.¡±
¡°And your plan to backup those ground rules when I¡¯m not there is¡?¡± Jen said, letting the statement hang in the air.
¡°Point taken,¡± Alexis said, sighing. Alexis hated that someone as pretty as Jen was able to be that persuasive when she wanted to be.
It was such a good point that it wasn¡¯t until Jen had already gotten in her car to drive back to her house that it occurred to that both Alexis and Jen had been in their pajamas since this morning. Which meant that Jen had indeed taken one of Alexis¡¯s favorite shirts home with her, just as Alexis had feared would happen. Absolutely devastating.
Alexis wasn¡¯t able to mourn the property theft however, since she was going to be walking into an important conversation with Pam.
She tried to boost her confidence up a bit. It helped to remind herself that Pam was definitely not prone to purposeful violence. Though when she walked up to the front door, she saw a note from her neighbor asking if Alexis could keep the noise down, which Alexis took to mean Pam had not exactly been gentle in practicing morse code. So maybe not purposeful violence, but accidental violence was still on the table.
When Alexis had walked in she saw Pam was in the middle of practicing her morse code.
[¡°-ISS THEM SO MUCH BUT ITS MY FA¡±]
Alexis had walked in when Pam was partway through a letter, but Alexis did notice it ended with a dash, and it didn¡¯t take much to figure out what it was from context. Alexis had immediately felt the urge to say something to announce her presence before remembering that Pam wouldn¡¯t be able to hear it. Instead she just opted to wave her hands.
The lantern floated up off the tarp and toward the door.
¡°Hey, sorry for interrupting,¡± Alexis typed apologetically, ¡°it seemed private.¡±
[¡°C¡±]
¡°Anyway,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°we got the stuff you asked for.¡±
[¡°K¡±]
Alexis noticed her speed was getting better after only a day of practice. Though she supposed that wasn¡¯t too crazy since there wasn¡¯t much else for her to do. Though that thought made Alexis feel pretty bad.
¡°Do you have any preference for where to put it?¡± Alexis typed.
[¡°PIX OUT ELSE N CARE¡±]
¡°You want the photos out, but don¡¯t care about the rest?¡± Alexis typed.
Pam is starting to get the hang of shorthand which is good for speed but does make her sentences harder to follow. If she really gets the hang of morse code in general maybe we can switch to a system like philips code.
Thinking of Philip''s code made Alexis think of her mom, which was nice.
The lantern flashed affirmatively to Alexis¡¯s question so she started to lay out the photos. The lantern floated over them, shining its light on each of them, and presumably the memories they represented.
Before Alexis forgot, she took out Pam¡¯s family photo from her pocket and placed it with the others. But when she did, the lantern started to vibrate.
[¡°N¡±]
Alexis hastily put it back in the bag with the rest of Pam¡¯s stuff. The lantern seemed to settle back into place. Alexis felt stupid because there were a lot of good reasons she probably didn¡¯t want to see that photo. She even briefly mentioned not getting along with her mom last night.
¡°Sorry,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°you had it with the others so I thought it would be fine.¡±
[¡°ITS K BUT N RN¡±]
¡°Got it, so not right now then?¡± Alexis asked.
[¡°C¡±]
Alexis waited for a bit. She wasn¡¯t sure if she was stalling or just waiting for that brief bit of awkwardness to be behind them.
[¡°WHERES JEN¡±]
¡°She had to go home to take care of her cat.¡±
[¡°LIKED HER¡±]
She wasn¡¯t sure if Pam was expressing disappointment because she didn¡¯t like Alexis, or just was trying to relate to Alexis over admiration of a mutual friend. So Alexis wasn¡¯t sure what she should say.
¡°Yeah¡¡± Alexis typed, ¡°I like her too.¡±
Eventually Alexis worked up the courage to say what was on her mind.
¡°Pam,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°are you okay to have a conversation about your future?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
Alexis put down her phone and went to start up her computer. She was going to be doing a lot of typing. She sat on what was quickly becoming her usual spot, which was the couch cushion in what was once her living room. Having to turn the laptop around after each message was a little bit annoying but it was the best they could do.
¡°Okay,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°first off, I talked to Jen and you can stay here for as long as you want. Are you okay with that?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
¡°With that in mind,¡± Alexis typed, ¡°we can grab more of your stuff later if you want. If that is something you want?¡±
[¡°C¡±]
This was the easy part. Next Alexis had to talk about the hard part.
¡°Okay, so if you are staying here, then there is a lot of stuff I need to understand. I know your situation is a little up in the air right now, but that doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t still important decisions you have to make. Like first of all, you got reported missing at work. If we aren¡¯t careful the police might get involved one way or another.¡±
[¡°N¡±]
¡°No?¡± Alexis typed, ¡°What is wrong with what I just said?¡±
[¡°COPS N GET INVOLVED¡±]
¡°The cops won¡¯t get involved?¡± Alexis typed.
[¡°C¡±]
¡°What makes you think that?¡± Alexis typed.
[¡°TRUST¡±]
Trust? Trust between who? Me trusting her? Her trusting the police? The police trusting her?
¡°Can you explain what you mean?¡± Alexis typed.
[¡°N¡±]
Welp, add that to the series of open questions I have regarding Pam.
¡°Alright, well that was besides the point anyway. The question is more how do you want to portray yourself to the outside world. So far your landlord thinks you are still alive, but do you want to contact friends to let them know you are safe?¡± Alexis typed.
[¡°N¡±]
What?
¡°Why?¡± Alexis typed. If I was stuck in your position, I would want my loved ones to know I was safe immediately.
[¡°N READY¡±]
The lantern started to sway uncomfortably.
¡°Pam, are you okay?¡±
There was a pause before the lantern flashed again.
[¡°N¡±]
The lantern continued to sway over the tarp uncomfortably, with each sway becoming a bit wider. It occurred to Alexis that even though this was a clear sign Pam¡¯s grip was slipping, that this didn¡¯t line up with what Pam had said earlier about her powers. Pam had said the angrier she got the better she controlled
. So if this conversation is upsetting, why is she clearly losing control?
Alexis also couldn¡¯t think of a particularly fitting reason why Pam would be incentivized to lie about if she was uncomfortable. She could think of reasons why Pam may have lied about how her power worked initially however. But her priority at the moment was to first calm her down.
¡°Pam, relax. It¡¯s you and me here. Let¡¯s just rain check this conversation for now. Okay?¡± Alexis typed.
But after Alexis turned the laptop around, a response didn¡¯t come. A small fear worked its way into Alexis¡¯s head that she actually had no idea if Pam had even read the message. So to be sure, Alexis closed the laptop underneath her cushion and got up.
This was going to be a long night.