《Mister Tadeus》 Chapter 1: Brain damage Tadeus Floyd slowly opened his eyes. He was laying in a hospital bed, his gaze wandering on the ceiling. "Oh! It''s good to see you''re awake, sir." turning his head to the right, Tadeus met eyes with a nurse by the name "Richardson" if one went by his nametag. "Wh- what happened? I remember going to my bed, and then I woke up here." "You''ve been hit by a drunk driver, mister¡­" the nurse stopped to read the name off of the hospital bed "...Floyd. And it seems your head was hit pretty hard. Though when we found you, you had no external wounds. We took you in only because the witnesses saw you getting hit, and you were unconscious. Do you feel any pain or discomfort, sir?" The patient moved his arms an legs a bit, and found he was feeling perfectly fine. "Well then, I suppose we can discharge you, mister Floyd. Though if you experience anything unusual, please let us know." "I have a question, how long was I unconscious?" "The accident happened yesterday, around 8.30 in the evening, and right now it is half past noon." "Crap, I''m late for work. I gotta-" "Sir, you apparently had a concussion that knocked you unconscious for almost 20 hours. I strongly suggest you take a few days off, just to be safe."This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Right, I''ll take a few days off. Health is what matters the most, after all" Tadeus replied, fully intent on breaking his word.
-Three days earlier- Doctor Tadeus Floyd was studying the specimen of an apparently dead microorganism under the microscope provided to him in the field lab. It took him a few minutes to figure out exactly how it worked, since he was not used to the newest, state-of-the-art equipment. The campus he worked on was severely underfunded, as microbiology wasn''t high on the city''s priority list. It was a wonder he still had a place to work in. But that changed when an infrastructure overhaul dug up a very peculiar chunk of rock. Indeed, it was determined to be a meteorite, fallen on Earth long before any civilization had even started. More importantly, researchers found signs of organic matter hidden within. It was then that Tadeus was offered a job on-site to study their findings. Floyd realized, after a bit of experimentation, that the organisms, none larger than half a millimeter, weren''t dead; they were merely hibernating. After receiving stimuli by being prodded or experiencing a sudden temperature change, they resumed activity, eating, multiplying, degrading, dying, and being eaten by the others. Worth noting was that they never tried eating still-living matter, unless directly attacked. Dead cells were fair game, but bacteria colonies or algae went completely ignored until they perished. Tadeus knew this was a very important discovery. The microbes - dubbed floyda concordis - could be useful for disposing organic waste, or even administering treatments to patients without fear of an adverse reaction. What he didn''t know, is that he accidentally touched the Petri dish with the specimen, transferring some microbes on his finger. He also didn''t know he then ingested this colony of concordis, and that it started gestating, soon covering most of his body inside and out. Chapter 2: Signs of life David opened the door, and when he saw who was on the other side, he pulled his boyfriend into a tight hug. "Oh thank god, Tad, you''re okay. I was so freaking worried, you weren''t answering my calls, and... Damn I missed you" When they came inside, Tadeus described what happened in his absence: the car crash, the resulting memory gap, the hospital. "Wait, you had a concussion, and they just let you walk out? This is so irresponsible!" "I mean, they have a lot of work nowadays, with the whole Starlight thing." There was an ongoing debate about what Starlight really was. Some called it a terrorist organization, others said it was a cult, but everyone agreed it was dangerous. Starlight''s agents infiltrated large companies, and seemingly at random attacked their infrastructure from the inside. Bombs, arson, bank robberies - anything short of murder in broad daylight was on the table. The only thing that showed any link between their crimes was a symbol they left on each site: a five-pointed star inside a triangle. "Well sure, they can''t accomodate everyone, but... " David sighed. "Alright. I''m glad you are okay. You are okay, right?"A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Yeah man, I''m good. I think you are a bit paranoid there, honey. Maybe I should start worrying about you?" Tadeus said, smirking. "About me- you know what, let''s just watch a movie and order pizza. I think we both need a relaxing evening." "Deal." Tadeus acted laid back, but internally he was even more worried than David. Since he woke in the hospital, he felt like something was off. It was as if his very bones were itching a little, a restlessness and discomfort he could not shake off.
Tadeus wanted to go back to work the very next day, but David insisted he take a day off. When David left to his work in the burger restaurant he was a chef in, Tadeus was left to his own devices. After the third hour of surding the web alone in the apartment, the biologist in him forced him to follow a hunch: he took a sample of his own blood, just a few drops, and went on to examine it under a microscope. His home office doubled as a small lab, because sometimes Tadeus couldn''t resist studying a sample after hours, but the university''s lab was being closed after seven, no exceptions. ''Let''s see if something''s up, or if I really got hit that hard.'' Tadeus thought, adjusting the microscope''s zoom. "Wha- when? How?" Whatr he was staring at was a collection of his blood cells. They were surrounded by a large number of floyda concordis. "Alright Tad, don''t panic. They are benign, they won''t kill you or even hurt you." ''Wait. Hurting. My arm doesn''t hurt.'' Tadeus looked at his left arm, where he took the blood sample from. There was no pain, and there was no sign thaty a needle ever puncured his skin. Chapter 3: Calling Timothy Smith had a bad day, and that''s saying something if one looked at how bad his good days usually went. As a "professional bum", as he called himself, on a good day he got enough money by begging to buy a warm meal. On a bad day, like today, he would get stabbed. Tim was rummaging through a garbage container, looking for some discarded clothes, but when he found none, he climbed out. A slip on the container''s edge later, and Tim landed on a broken bottle, impaling his belly with shards of glass. It would have been the end of Timothy Smith''s life, were it not for a stroke of luck: crawling out of the alley, the homeless man collapsed on the filthy street. Filthy with blood of one Tadeus Floyd, who was hit by a car there a few hours ago. Tim didn''t know that of course, and as his consciousness began to fade, he thought about how at least he would never be at another''s mercy again. He woke up an hour later. ''Welp, it''s time for the judgement, huh?'' he thought, but as he opened his eyes, he found he was still lying on the street. His belly was still stuffed with glass. No, wait, his belly was covered in glass, but it wasn''t inside his body, instead forming a sort of protective shell. "I lost so much blood I''m hallucinating." HONK! "Hey asshole, get off the fucking road!"The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Tim was angry, unusally so. He was peacefully bleeding out on the side of the road, and that tool had the gall to tell him to find somewhere else to die? Tim was going to teach him some manners, and if that''s the last thing he''d do, then so be it. "Don''t you talk to me like that, shithead! Can''t you see I''m dying out here?!" he said, got up, and stared walking in the direction of the driver. "Dying? You''re walkin'' fine, what are you on about?" "I''ll show you walkin fine, asshat!" As Tim punched the driver through the car window, he watched as his fist dug into the angry man''s skull. When Tim didn''t feel the impact, he saw that his hand was covered in pavement, as if he was wearing gloves made of asphalt. He realized he might not have been hallucinating after all.
Tadeus spent the rest of the day testing the limits of his healing. He started small, still cautious, but when he saw how a cut on his finger closed before his very eyes, even when he cut to the very bone, he grew bolder. He decided to stop only after cutting off his toe. When it didn''t grow back immediately he started panicking, but when he held the severed toe to where it was supposed to be, it soon reattached itself, leaving no scars. It was at that moment when the researcher realized how stupid and reckless his "experiments" were. He started questioning his sanity, when he felt the weird impulse from before. Now he understood what he yearned for: to use his newfound power. He felt the urge to influence the world, shape it with the tools that floyda concordis provided. He stopped doubting his sanity, for there now was no doubt he was no longer the same man he was before the accident. Chapter 4: Dont leave me now "Hey Tad, I''m home, how are you feeling?" Before David came back, Tadeus cleaned up the mess his "experiments" made, and was now waiting by the dark oak table in the living room. Now, as he met gaze with his lover, they both knew they needed to talk. "What happened Tad? You told me you were fine, but by the look on your face I can tell something''s bothering you." "I¡­ changed. That accident really did have an impact on me, but not what you were worried about. Remember when I told about the new organism I study? Before that crash, I caught it. Must have accidentally touched the petri dish, or maybe-" "You''re rambling." "Right. I caught it, and it''s probably the only reason I''m still alive. Concordis saved my life that day, it made me¡­ regenerate." "Like Doctor Who?" "More like Wolverine or Deadpool. Anyways, I also started feeling this tingling, this urge to do something. To use this power, to achieve something, to¡­ change the world?" "So let me get this straight. You think that you caught a virus from a thousand year old piece of space rock, and it gave you healing powers. Now you wanna go around saving the world like a superhero. You really are not fine."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Tadeus sighed. He knew this would not be an easy discussion, but he was getting frustrated. "No, you don''t get it. I can prove it, watch." As Tadeus reached for a knife, David started shouting, trying to stop him. But Tadeus was faster and sliced his open palm. "Tad, what the fuck?! Quick, where is our first aid kit?" "David, calm down, look! It''s not bleeding!" As his boyfriend held out the cut palm, David saw the blood, but it was not pouring out of the wound. Then he watched in astonishment as the cut started closing before his very eyes. After a moment, there was no sign of the self-inflicted injury. "Now you believe me?" "Wha- I- I need to sit down." "I am not finished yet, David." At this, David tried to say something, but was cut off before he could open his mouth. "I told you about this new urge. I need you to keep me in check. I need you as my anchor, otherwise I''ll do something drastic, more drastic than cutting my hand. I don''t know what parts of me are me, and which are this new instinct. I need you David, more than ever before." Uttering the last sentence, Tadeus started sobbing. He was lost, and the last thing he wanted is to be abandoned by David. Said tall man pulled his partner in a hug, kissing him on the forehead. "I won''t leave you. This is all very fucking weird, but I''m with you. I''ve been by your side for 6 years and I''m not gonna leave you now. I am very lost right now, and so are you, but we can find the way together. Cosmic, magic virus or not." Still crying, the shorter man laughed a little. "It''s not a virus. It''s an alien microorganism somewhere between a bacteria and an ameba." "Nerd!" And they both collapsed on the sofa laughing, still wrapped in a hug. They stayed laying like that for a while, but it didn''t matter to them how long exactly. Eventually they both fell asleep, not worried about what the new situation would bring. Chapter 5: Us and Them Tadeus wanted to announce the capabilities of concordis to the city''s higher-ups. It would mean increased funding for him and the rest of his university, and later, after understanding the phenomenon better, a huge boost in the importance of Norfolk and the nation of Nebraska as a whole. When the United States of America fell apart about 10 years before, most states-turned-countries were pretty devastated economically. Personally, Tadeus still thought the Ununiting was the right course of action. Now though, Nebraska could potentially become the next Silicon Valley. Before all of that, though, he had to actually prove his findings, which required more research on the microbe. The problem was that he had to get a permission for animal testing, otherwise his research, once published, would be deemed unethical and discarded, destroying his reputation in the process. He wrote a letter to his employer, the Norfolk city council, explaining as much, to explain why his work would have to be put on hold, and then wrote to the Nebraskan Department of Agriculture to request the needed permissions. After sending the letters, all he could do now was wait until the churning gears of the bureaucratic machine produced the results. But he couldn''t just sit on his ass all day waiting for the paperpushers to do their job. The restlessness gnawed at him, and his patience was running thin after barely a week. He started to go to the gym to exercise, increased the frequency of another kind of "exercise" with David, and that''s all on top of returning to his regular job at the university. But still, he felt like he had too much energy, no matter how hard he overworked himself. He knew of course it was because of his newfound desire to "change the world". But no letters from the NDA came, so he couldn''t continue his work. Frustrated, he decided to go to a walk to the rougher part of town, basically looking for trouble to find him. David disapproved of this, not wanting Tadeus to get hurt, but he was reminded his boyfriend couldn''t get hurt, at least not with any lasting consequences. "You don''t know that! What if someone shoots you through your heart or something, we don''t know if you can heal something like that!" David retorted. "I know I can survive that. And more. I¡­ feel it. I feel like I instinctively understand how this thing works now. Please trust me." "God damn it¡­ alright but if you get shot and die all I''ll tell at your funeral is ''I told you so''. Oh, and buy some mustard on your way back. We ran out yesterday."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "Can''t you take some from the diner?" "No way, Jeremy would kick my ass if he found out I steal from the kitchen. Being fired over it would be the least of my worries." And so, Tadeus went for a walk in the uptown for a midnight stroll.
Timothy, or Dirty Tim as he was now known in the neighbourhood, was following a man from a distance. He was a perfect target. His clothes were nice, looked expensive for Tim, and he had this look on his face that screamed "I''m a white rich boy lost in the bad part of town, please mug me". And so, Tim decided to oblige. "Hey kiddo, you lost or what?" he started, pushing the man, but not hard enough to make him fall. He didn''t react to the push, but he commented on what Tim said. "Kiddo? I''m thirty two, though I guess I do have a bit of a babyface. And yes, I think I am lost. Would you point the way to Browning street, please?" ''Does this guy really not understand what he got himself into?'' Tim wondered. He wasn''t used to mugging people this clueless, though, to be fair, he only started mugging people after he gained the ability to cover his fists in stone. ''Does he really not understand I''m fucking with him?'' wondered Tadeus. He may have oversold the ''lost rich boy'' persona. "Sure, I''ll even lead you there for the low, low price of your wallet. Give me everything you got in those designer pockets, kiddo." "Oh. You''re mugging me." "I sure am. Now give me the goods or I''ll let my fist do the talking." Tadeus took off his backpack, opened it, and pulled out the glass bottle of mustard he promised to buy, and charged at his filth-covered assailant. When Tim saw the condiment closing in on his head, he activated his power. Metal from a trashcan he absorbed earlier covered his head, leaving only two holes for his eyes to see. The bottle crashed on the metal, shards flying everywhere. When Tim saw some of them sinking in Tadeus''s skin, he smirked, remembering how his life changed for the better after a similar experience. His smile disappeared when he saw that, where the glass fell out of his opponent''s wounds, blood was not pouring out. "Huh. So it seems I''m not the only one." Tad commented, seeing the ''armor'' on Tim''s head. "Apparently." The answer came, accompanied by a pavement-covered punch in Tadeus''s stomach, sending him to the ground. "You taught me something new today, so you get a free pass, kiddo. But if we ever cross paths again, you can bet your ass I''ll turn you to mincemeat." Spitting in Tad''s general direction, the thug left his victim to lick his wounds and walked away. Both were now considering how the existence of other powered individuals would impact their lives, the city, and, eventually, the whole world. Chapter 6: Questions While his assailant left him on the ground, Tadeus started pulling out the glass shards embedded in his arm, wounds closing seconds after. As he started walking back home, he considered what his encounter revealed. ''So there''s at least one other guy with a power. So he either got concordis too, or something else is going on. On one hand, Occam''s razor dictates one should make the least amount of assumptions, so another "supernatural" source is improbable. On the other, it would mean effect of the microbes is not consistent. How would his armor work? He couldn''t have just produced the metal out of thin air. At least I think so. Just because they give powers, doesn''t mean they break the laws of physics. I do think my healing factor uses my calories, though human metabolism is not my area of expertise¡­ I need someone from that field, and with the right equipment to check what exactly is going on.''
"So there are others." David summed up Tad''s recounting of the event. "And you wasted perfectly good mustard." "You are worried about mustard?!" "I would worry about you, if it wasn''t for the fact that you''re probably unkillable." "Oh, so does that mean no more overbearing ''are you alright''? " Tadeus teased. "No way, you''d miss it too much. It just won''t be about your physical health anymore." David retorted, grinning. "Back to the point though, the guy got your space bug too?" "That''s probably what happened. How he came into contact I have no idea. But that means the ''bug'', as you call it, has a different effect on different people. It could be that he and I lucked out and got a power, while someone else might get their bones dissolved." "Maybe¡­ maybe he caught from you."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "No way. I met the guy today." "Sure, but you didn''t isolate yourself after catching the thing, so maybe it''s contagious and you touched something¡­ and he caught it too." "Well, that would mean you have it too, and you''re fine. But let''s do a test. I''ll take your blood sample, to be sure." After a few minutes, the microbiologist was looking into his microscope. "Shit, you were right, there they are. But why didn''t it affect you? Maybe you''re, i dunno, incompatible or something¡­" "With that official terminology I know I''m in safe hands, doctor Floyd." "Oh gimme a break, it''s been a weird day." "Sure was. Let''s go sleep on it." "Sleep? No way I''ll just let you sleep right now, not after ''doctor Floyd''. Come over here, we''ll check if you really don''t have superpowers." "How? Oh. Oh!"
"Excuse me, are you ''dirty Tim''?" a woman in a dark blue hoodie asked the burly man. "Who''s askin''?" "Someone with a job for you." "Hm. Let''s say I am. What is the job, and how much you payin''?" "Well, you will essentially do much of the same as you do now. Beating up a few defenceless people, causing a ruckus, destroying public property. In terms of payment, you will be able to afford any alcohol, drug, or whatever you might desire, in ample quantities." "Kinda sounds too good to be true. What''s the catch? And how do I know You keep your side of the bargain?" The woman stopped briefly before responding. "There is one caveat. Make sure none of your work can be traced back to us. It has to look as if you work of your own accord. As for the payment" she reached behind, pulling out a duffel bag from the shadows. " you can take this bag with you today, should you agree. As a sort of advance." He took the bag. Opening, he found it full of stacks of 100 dollar bills. He whistled and said "Looks like you got yourself a deal, lady. Where do I sign?" "A simple handshake will suffice." As they shook each other''s hands, Tim felt a numb pang at the back of his skull. For the first time, the woman''s expression changed to a wide smile, and he realized his fate was no longer his own. "Wecome to Starlight, Tim." Chapter 7: Making science After two weeks and dozens of strongly worded letters Tadeus finally got his research request approved. He returned to his campus lab, but they let him keep some of the new equipment he used at the excavation site. While setting up the tests for the day, the researcher was suprised to hear knocking at the lab door. "Hello, Doctor Floyd?" In the doorframe Tadeus saw a woman, about 30 years old, a good couple of years older than himself. Her elbow-length blonde hair contrasted with his own black birdnest. "Hello who do I have the pleasure speaking to?" Tadeus responded after a while of staring at her awkwardly. It just occurred to him that he was a bit of a shut-in in the last few months. She was the first acquaintance he made since the accident, second if one counted the superpowered mugger. "Doctor Lena Cunningham, I''m from the Nebraskan Department of Agriculture. I''m here to help with the study and to ensure that all the protocols are being followed." "Of course. Come in then, I was just setting up the machines." After setting everything necessary, they brought in the test subjects - mice. "So, how did you decide to test the effect on animals? You wrote that you suspected a beneficial symbiosis, citing personal experience caused by an accident. What happened?" Tadeus met this woman barely an hour ago. He didn''t trust her not to call bullshit if he said ''the microbe gave me a superpower'', nor was he really keen on proving it to ber by injuring himself. "I don''t feel comfortable discussing it in detail. If the theory is correct, we''ll see it anyway." "So it''s just a hunch? You realize that wasting resources like that can cost you a career?"This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "It''s not a hunch. I- I had a car accident that could have crippled me. After I woke up two days later there was not a scratch on my body. I have accounts from the hospital." The cat was out of the bag now, at least partially. He was extremely worried what would happen if more and more people learned of his¡­ condition. She looked down, thinking. "And you are saying it''s because of concordis." "Yes, and to see if we can replicate the effect in other organisms I needed approval from you guys." "Okay. Sorry, when I saw how young you were I assumed you were one of those kids that come out straight out of college and think they will get a Nobel prize after three months of poking rats with a stick." He laughed at that, more relaxed now. "Did someone really do that?" "Yep. The research was meant to study conditioning by negative reinforcement, but I had to shut it down after two hours because the head researcher actually poked a rat to death. I honestly think she just wanted to torture some rodents, and wanted to have an excuse of ''science''." "Wow. I do not envy your job." "Well, I get to protect animals from abuse and further the humanity''s understanding of the world. But yeah, that case was awful." They chatted for a bit, and finally set up the first trial. It was meant to test the gestation process of floyda concordis, as well as how contagious it was. The mice were divided into four groups: the control group, a group they injected with the microbes directly, a group fed contaminated food, and a group which had one wall of the terrarium covered in a solution containing the microbes. They had 20 mice in each group, and the groups were prepared by a couple of other researchers who came after Tadeus and Lena had set up the cages. This ensured that the head researchers did not know which group is which, and as such, they couldn''t fabricate data that would lead to their preffered conclusion. At the end of the day, when Tadeus went home, he felt relieved and content. The itch at the back of his mind had, after close to a month, finally subsided. At least for now, Tadeus thought. Chapter 8: Restlessness It was a few weeks now, and Tadeus grew to loathe the monotony of what in his eyes amounted to maintaining a rodent zoo. He knew of course the importance of the project, he had started the damn thing, but the work on the way to his goal has been tedious and boring. It worried him, since he used to love lab work, no matter how long and repetitive his tasks were. He used to find beauty in the little "rituals" of studying a test sample, the ''waltz of science'' as he liked to call it, the movements long, deliberate, practiced. Now he couldn''t stomach it. The now familiar itch for action and change was making him hate everything that made his job worthwhile to him before. "Lena, I can''t work on the project anymore." "What?! You''re just gonna shut the whole thing down halfway in?" "Of course not. But I burned out, I think. If I spend another day tending to those rats I legitimately fear I will choke the little buggers to death. I know proper experiments take time, but I lost any sort of drive, the moment that this whole thing becomes worth it seems so far away It might as well never happen." "So what now? Someone has to be in charge of the trials." Tadeus let out a sigh. "I know this is a huge ask, but could you take over? You already basically co-own the project." "Tad, this is an asshole move to dump all this on me you know that?" "I do, but as you said it''s halfway there so we would waste so much money and time if we called it off now." "So because the consequences of your actions scare you you want me to stop them from affecting you. I thought we''ve come to some sort of understanding here, that you are a dependable person who has their shit together. Screw this, I already made sure there is no animal abuse here, I don''t even have to be here for a minute longer. Goodbye, Tadeus." With that, she stormed off, leaving the building.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Tad''s first instinct was to try and stop her, but he quickly realized that would be pointless. "As a famous philosopher once said ''this was at this moment that he knew. He fucked up.'' " Tadeus fell back on his usual coping mechanism of gallow''s humor.
"She changed ber mind yet?" "It''s been three days, Dave, she''s not picking up phone, she probably left the town, and students ask me why one of the head researchers up and fucked off. She trapped me in the project; she knew I would not leave it to die, so she forced me to stay by¡­ well, doing what I wanted to do. Serves me right, but still a dick move, and I''m getting worse at keeping my composure." David pulled Tadeus in a hug. "We''ll figure something out, man, we always do." "I''m not so sure about that." Tadeus said, feeling better after venting, but still in a sour mood. Wanting to end the conversation and generally take his mind off of his predicament, he turned on tv. The first channel he landed on was the local news channel, for the first time in a good while. "Starlight atttacks continue around Norfolk. The latest incident was a coordinated assault on several popular fast food restaurants. A few of them were recorded by the perpetrators themselves, and published anonymously on 4chan. We will now play one of those clips." The screen now showed a phone recording of a man wearing a bandana over his face, talking loudly over the screams of terror in the background. "Hear this? That''s the sound of filthy capitalist pigs cowering before the blinding light of holy Stars. We will not rest until all bask in their glory and find a unanimous harmony!" There was sound of gunfire and the clip abruptly ended. The news anchor continued after a second, clearly a bit shaken by what had just been shown. "I-it also seems that Starlight''s crusade inspired another criminal. He seems to be working alone, killing seemingly random people. His name is Timothy Smith, also known by his alias ''Dirty Tim''. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts, we ask you that you contact police immediately, as he is a dangerous, violent criminal." as the presenter said that, a picture appeared next to her. "Oh shit, David look! That''s the guy with powers that beat me up!" Chapter 9: Three is a crowd "Involved in six murders. It''s a good thing you can heal." "Yeah, but he told me he ''spared me'' so he didn''t even plan to kill me. Though I thought he was just a mugger. He obviously didn''t care if I lived or not but he wouldn''t go out of his way to off someone if they just gave him their money." "Either way I will open a bottle of good wine when he gets caught. Or dead." David took the remote and changed the channel. He was greeted with a red-faced middle aged man screaming at the camera. "- and they will wipe us all out! Those mutants came out of their hiding, and we gotta fight them! We gotta protect our children! Our families! I don''t know about you, but if I saw one of them aliens like that Tim bastard all over the news pulls out their magic bullcrap imma stab ''em first thing I do! They keep popping up too. Yesterday one of our dear viewers sent us a story about a woman who could spit out ants out of her hands. Fucking ants! As an American I say we gotta -" and on it went in a similar fashion. "Well, well, well. Hank Baker said something that is not complete bullshit. Didn''t think I''d see the day." David remarked. "I would even say he was almost right. I''m no alien, but the rest¡­ we probably are spreading. If ''Dirty Tim'' got powers why not more people." "We?" "You know, people with powers." "I got that, but you saying ''we'', being in that group¡­ it feels weird. Makes it out as though you are not quite human or something."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "I kinda feel not human. The regeneration thing, and my mind works kinda different now. I''m still aperson and all that, but-" "But you''re still my Tad." David cut him off. "Don''t ever forget that." "I know. I- I know." Tadeus responded, hugging him.
Despite what he would have preffered, Tadeus returned to his lab the next day. With his boyfriend''s support and daily runs he was able to subdue his restlessness to a managable degree. The first trial came to a close two weeks later, and it was time to compile and analyse the data. One of the coping mechanisms Tadeus developed was to push himself hard whenever possible. He knew this would normally be unhealthy, but his situation wasn''t exactly normal. That night, the first experiment concluded, Tadeus decided to pull an all-nighter to sift through it all. Except he was interrupted by Lena. "Tadeus, we need to talk. Alone." "What are you even doing here? I thought you bailed on me to punish me for wanting to bail on you." "That is not why I''m here. Please, we gotta talk." Tadeus begrudgingly told the last few students-turned-assistants to leave, closed the door, and turned to face Lena. "Alright, what is this about." "I caught concordis from you." "Probably, it''s not hostile though, nothing to worry about." "What I mean is I got powers." Tadeus raised an eyebrow at that. "Show me." Lena picked up a book from the desk and handed it to him. "Throw it at me." Tadeus would normally never throw something at anyone who didn''t mean him harm, but because of how they last parted ways he trusted she wouldn''t bother to come all this way back just to pull his leg. Besides, he was still a bit angry at her, so he put all his strength behind the throw, taking an excuse for a bit of catharsis. His projectile flew fast right at her face, which would likely shatter a tooth or two when it impacted. The book came to a halt about a foot before her, dropping harmlessly on the ground. Chapter 10: What comes next "That''s¡­ something. Shit, that puts a new spin on this situation. When did this happen?" this was the first power he heard of that did something outside of the body. He had his healing factor, there was a criminal with skin-hardening, and, if "Wake-Up Call with Hank Baker" was to be believed, a woman producing insects. Lena''s power meant concordis wasn''t restricted to purely biological changes. "Two days ago. My boyfriend and I got into an argument, and he tried to slam a door into my face, and that" - she pointed at the book lying on the ground - "happened. I came because of the mental changes. You are the only person I could call an expert on this topic, and, first of all, sorry. I didn''t get what was happening in your head then, but now I have an idea. And I need your help." "I mean, I was an asshat. Wanna call it even?" he said, extending his hand forward. "Sure." They shook, and started talking in detail about their respective experiences. It turned out the psychological influence of floyda concordis was more or less universal - restlessness, feeling energetic, and the need to influence the world around them. Lena was shocked to discover Tadeus met Dirty Tim, and he was curious about the extent of her power. "So you can just stop objects around you?" "It feels more like I¡­ suck out kinetic energy from them. It happens instinctually if I don''t notice the thing coming straight at me, but I can also force it. For example, I halted my cat and it couldn''t walk away from me." "Alright, but then, where does it go? The energy, I mean."If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Inside me, as vague as that sounds. When I use it I feel like a wave of hot air hits my muscles." "Okay. At least we don''t have to completely change our understanding of the laws of thermodynamics. What about limits?" "Well, I was always able to stop anything I tried to stop. Maybe if I siphon too much I get boiled alive." she chuckled, but it quickly turned into a more nervous kind of laughter.
"Hi David, we have a guest!" Tadeus exclaimed entering his house, Lena closely following. "Oh, hello there. I''m David McNamara, Tad''s boyfriend. Pleased to meet you, miss¡­?" "Doctor Lena Cunningham. And likewise." "Oh. Why are you here then? I thought you didn''t leave on the best of terms." "There has been a¡­ new development." "She has a power too." Tadeus explained. "Relax, Lena, we''re all friends here." he assured as she was looking at him with offence for revealing her secret. After a round of exchanging information, they came to a consensus. "We have to find other people with powers." Lena summarized. "God, we need a name for you guys. ''People with powers'' is a mouthful." "Concordians? Because of the concordis." Tad suggested. "Nope, still too long." "Why are you even talking about this? We have more important things on our plate than nomenclature." Lena interjected. "How are we gonna talk about this if we don''t have proper words?" "Plus", Tadeus added, "when all this stuff inevitably goes public we have to have a non-offensive term on the ready before they call us aliens or mutants or something. PR is important to avoid being put into one box with Dirty Tim and the like." "Alright, alright." she conceded. "Well if ''Concordians'' is too long, let''s cut out the first syllable. Cordians. How does that sound?" "A bit weird, but works well enough." Tad commented. "Sounds cool, actually." "Great. Then, to the original point, we need to find more Cordians." Chapter 11: Mitosis Have you or someone you know endured an accident or another form of physically or mentally taxing incident? Have they subsequently started to exhibit one or more of the following?: If so please contact the number below. The first logical way to find more Cordians was to have them come forward themselves, the trio reasoned. They have printed out several hundred flyers instructing the empowered people to reach out to them, and they glued them all over the city. The results were rather disappointing. Tadeus and Lena knew of course that the drive to change the world wasn''t exclusive to Cordians, but they have severely underestimated the amount of radicalized teenagers tired of the status quo that would call them. There were also prank calls, which were the second biggest category of callers. Reports of ligma and asking if their refrigerator was running were growing from initially almost amusing, to annoying, to boring, to annoying again. But there was also Jennifer. "Hello, you are from the flyers about weird things happening after trauma?" "Yes, we are conducting a study. Would you like to share your experience?" "Well, I have been under a lot of stress recently, you know, exams and stuff, and one day was going through a truckload of homework, it was two in the morning and there was no way I could have done it alone. I thought ''if only I could get someone to do this for me'', and then I felt shivers all over my body. When I looked at my hand it was growing a second palm and- and I know it sounds crazy, but I swear to god I''m not making this up." "It''s okay, no judgement here. What happened next?" "It was like I was growing another arm, a palm and then the rest of the hand, and then it started peeling off me. It didn''t hurt, I expected to feel like I was skinned alive, but all I felt was cold. Cold and hunger, and then I passed out. When I woke up the next morning my clothes were torn, and my homework was done. In my. Fucking. Handwriting. It was all done how I would have done it, all my little quirks of writing perfectly copied. I took a few days off school after that, and on my way for grocery I saw your advert." "That is quite an experience. Has anything else like that happen since?" "No more hand-splitting, but I got that ''agitation'' you mentioned in the ad. What happens now? Men in Black pack me up in a van and I''m never heard from again?"You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Tadeus chucled at that. "No, nothing of the sort. Though, if you don''t mind, I and my associates would like to meet personally, to discuss a few things regarding your¡­ condition."
"...So no, you''re not crazy, and you''re not the only one." Lena finished catching Jennifer up to speed. "So what now? What do we do?" "Well, what do you want? We don''t plan on abducting you to run tests on you, as we established, but we would like to check the extent of your powers, if you are willing." "I just want to understand what''s going on exactly, so yeah, let''s do tests. If we understand it, maybe you guys could cure it." That gave Tadeus a pause. He didn''t consider someone would want to get rid of the alterations concordis brought, but he could quickly understood that the mental changes may for some outweigh the benefits. "If that is what you want, we already started to study the microbe in detail, so we can replicate the beneficial effects in a more controlled way. We hope we can isolate the mental influence and get rid of it, leaving only the power." "No. Take it all away. I don''t wanna be a fucking vigilante or something. I mean, I do, but that''s because the bug is telling me to use it." "Okay. We will try to find a full cure as well. Now, are you still up for the tests?" Jennifer was told to get in the same mental state she was in the original incident. She thought of a simple task - writing her name on a piece of paper - and sat down, repeating in her head ''I wish someone else did it for me''. A moment later, the entire front of her body started bulging out. The excess mass her body created started taking on the shape of the parts it grew out of. Soon she had a second pair of hands that quickly peeled off her, joined by a second torso, head, and finally it took a step out of her. The resulting creature looked exactly like Jennifer. It went straight to the table, picking up a pen. Jennifer stared, barely conscious, as her copy wrote down her full name, and turned around to face her. "All done." Second Jennifer smiled, as she approached the original. As it reached out, Jennifer wanted to stop it, but she felt too weak to move, and neither did the scientists move in to stop it, too curious to interrupt the process. As the doppelganger touched her hand with its own, both identical women started melding together. Moments later, only the original Jennifer remained. After half a minute of silence, Jennifer spoke up. "That was the most disturbing fucking thing I''ve ever experienced." "How are you feeling? Did it hurt?" Jennifer took a second to answer, still shaking a bit. "It didn''t hurt, but there was that hunger again. Like a rumbling in my stomach, but in my entire body. It went away when she- when it came back inside me." "You did just grew a human''s worth of mass, it had to have come from somewhere. Did you also feel that cold again?" "Yes, but now it has more to do with the fact that I''m naked." The second body growing out of her tore her clothes in half in the process. As if he only just then realized this, Tadeus turned around to look away, embarrassed. "We will find something for you. Anything else?" Lena continued. "Tired, mostly. And¡­ that''s hard to describe, but it''s like I was there. Like I have a vague memory of writing down my name just now." "I presume you are not up for more trials?" "Fuck no. At least not today. Just give me some clothes and I''ll be on my way. I''ll call you guys if I want to meet up again." Chapter 12: Battering ram A week has passed and Jennifer didn''t contact them. No one else called them in that time, either. Even prank calls had died down. As Tadeus went an his morning jog, he heard a loud thud, followed by a child''s scream. "Mommy! Mommy! Get up, please! Why?! Why did you do that?!" He ran into an alley to search for the commotion. There was a black woman lying on the ground, motionless. A young boy was kneeling beside her, his sweatpants stained with blood that was slowly pouring out of the woman. And behind them stood what looked like the dewvil While Tadeus was not a religious person, he has been raised by Christian parents. The figure before him looked like those he was taught would torture him in hell should he misbehave. The man had pale skin, his exposed shoulders covered in tattooed snakes. His left hand had three fingers, each ending with a needle-like protrusion. His head bore a pair of horns, curved like those of a ram. One of the horns had a bloody scrap of cloth stuck to it. Despite his menacing appearance, he was just as horrified, if not more, than the little boy, standing motionless and staring at the scene. Tadeus kneeled down in front of the woman. She was conscious, but only barely. He took of his shirt to block the gash in her stomach.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "Call an ambulance!" Tadeus yelled at the horned man. No matter how bizzare the situation, this woman needed medical attention. Besides, Tadeus thought he already knew what caused this man''s demonic appearance. "I didn''t- I didn''t mean to-" "Then call an ambulance! She''s bleeding out!" The man finally snapped out off his shock and took out his phone.
After the woman and her child were taken to the hospital, Tadeus decided he and the man should stay and discuss what happened. "My wife and I, we were fighting again. She wanted me to start borrowing money because she needed to donate more to her new church. I said I didn''t want to have anything to do with her new cult. And then she took out a knife. She never even hit me before but she grabbed my hand¡­ I was too shocked to react and- my fingers¡­ I ran out of the house. And she ran after me and kicked me down. I fell on my head, and those horns started growing¡­ and my fingers turned into this¡­ and I was so angry. She wasn''t herself since she started going to those meetings. And I ran at her and she started bleeding and Tommy ran and he was screaming and¡­ and¡­ and you were there." The horned man that introduced himself as Cameron tried to explain. This was a disaster. And not just because of the tragedy that was domestic abuse. Cameron was clearly a Cordian, and this incident would not be in favor of Tad''s plan to integrate themselves as regular members of society. Now they would be seen as dangerous and violent. It didn''t matter Cameron wasn''t the aggressor. "Okay. I get it, it wasn''t your fault. The problem is you just joined a group of very unique people. We can help you settle in your new predicament." "I have horns goddamnit! What are you talking about? They will put me in a vat and let scientists poke me with needles!" "Well, then, you''re lucky that I''m the one who found you. I''m one of the scientists." Chapter 13: Info Wars Tadeus and Lena feared that if they reached out directly to the government without enough data they would dismiss them, or, worse, take them in to experiment on them. Cameron''s concerns were not unfounded. Speaking of, he was the first person to exhibit permanent physical changes. Upon closer inspection, they realised he could eject the spikes his left hand fingers became. After a while he became quite adept at shooting them, to the point where he could hit a target up to 15 meters away. Cameron wasn''t the only one whose body was scrutinized. While Tadeus didn''t want to test his capabilities, since to activate his power someone had to injure him and he was worried he might develop self-harm problems, he couldn''t ignore the problem he ran into during exercise. When his boyfriend joined him in working out, his body slowly was becoming more toned. However, Tadeus remained looking as skinny as usual despite being much more active than David. He soon realized why. Muscles are grown by damaging them through exercise. When the body repairs them, the damaged strands of muscle are fused together, ending up increasing the muscle''s size. But his regeneration apparently restored the muscles to their previous shape instead. This meant his body was constantly being restored to a set previous state. Though not entirely, since if it affected his brain he would not be able to form new memories. The silver lining of this predicament was that other Cordians wouldn¡¯t have such problems, since it depended on his unique power. Unless someone else had regeneration, of course, though from their limited knowledge it seemed that powers varied wildly. Since the Cordians started appearing more and more, there was no way they could keep it under wraps. they had to be the first ones to publicly announce their presence in society, but there was no news outlet that would accept ¡°superheroes¡± as anything but a crazy, desperate grasp at fame. Well, except one.
¡°Hello everyone, this is Hard Truths with Hank Baker, and I have a real treat for you today. You remember when I talked about the invasion of demonic forces with powers? We have two of them in our studio! Don¡¯t worry, we have armed guards behind the cameras, so I am relatively safe.¡± There weren¡¯t any armed forces in the studio, but Tadeus and Lena decided against pointing that out. ¡°So, what do you guys want on Earth? Why do you invade our beautiful nation? We won¡¯t give you our children to eat, I¡¯ll tell you that much!¡± Baker¡¯s face already started turning red with indignation. Tadeus took a deep breath. ¡°Okay. First of all, I lived in Nebraska my whole life.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.¡°I¡¯m sure you want us to believe that.¡± ¡°Second,¡± Tadeus refused to comment, ¡°we have no interest in eating any children. I¡¯ve never eaten a child, and I don¡¯t plan on changing that. We call ourselves Cordians, and our powers come from a microbe known as Floyda concordis. It is completely harmless, but in some people it can awaken in a situation of extreme stress, causing them to develop extraordinary abilities.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re tellin¡¯ me this thing can infect anyone?!¡± The host asked, a note of fear joining his usual anger. ¡°Yes, but as I said, the vast majority of people experience no changes. I would bet you are already a carrier, too, as it spreads extremely quickly. If it was dangerous, the whole country would be in a state of an epidemic.¡± *Oh no, why did I say that? He¡¯s gonna freak out now.* ¡°YOU MOTHERFUCKERS INFECTED ME?! You won¡¯t have me without a fight, fuckers!¡± Then Hank Baker put a hand inside his suit and pulled out a handgun. Everyone else froze for a moment. The first shot came toward Tadeus, catching him in the throat. The second hit him in the chest, throwing him off the chair he was sitting in. The third, last shot came towards Lena, but before it could hit her, it fell harmlessly on the ground half a meter before her. The studio¡¯s staff ran towards Baker, restraining him and taking his gun away, and Lena knelt by Tadeus¡¯s side. ¡°Tad! Can you hear me?!¡± In response, The shot man gurgled incomprehensibly, his throat too damaged to speak. When no words left him, he opted to just lightly nodding instead. His gunshot wounds were covered in blood, but no more was pouring out, as his body already started mending itself. ¡°Will you be alright?!¡± Another weak nod.
¡°This madman used actual silver bullets on us. Good thing my body spat them out, I would have some serious poisoning otherwise.¡± Tadeus said. They were riding back home, David behind the wheel, and at this point the wounds had healed completely. ¡°He probably thought he would block our powers. Like we are werewolves or something.¡± Lena replied. ¡°So, what now?¡± David asked. ¡°Now you drive us to a fancy restaurant and pay for dinner.¡± ¡°What? Why me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who suggested we go to that shitshow. You gotta pay us back now.¡± Chapter 14: Regrouping After the dinner, they looked up their "interview". The footage clearly showed their powers - Tadeus wasn''t bleeding after the initial impact, and the shot aimed at Lena was stopped short. The news did note this, though most outlets focused on the fact that Hank Baker wasn''t just a harmless madman, but a dangerous one. He was obviously arrested, and the word was he cited "self defense" as his justification for the attack. Their house - at this point Lena moved into a free room in Tadeus and David¡¯s apartament since more was holding her in Norfolk than her own city - was downright assaulted with invitations for interviews. Phone calls, messages, even two letters. There was only one person reaching out they responded immediately to, though. ¡°Mister Floyd? I¡¯m Jennifer Harris, you and Miss Lena invited me because of that¡­thing¡­ and now that stuff with Baker happened and I wanted to know if you are alright and what now.¡± ¡°Now? I assume you mean now that people saw Cordians? And it¡¯s good to hear from you. Do you want to meet and talk?"
¡°So people know. What now?¡± The teenager asked again when they met up in a cafe downtown. There were four of them: Tadeus, Lena, Jennifer and Cameron. David wanted to attend the meeting too, but he had a shift at the restaurant he worked for. ¡°We study ourselves more.¡± Lena spoke. ¡°If we don¡¯t know what to expect, then how could anyone else? What could we tell them? This can alter the course of history!¡± ¡°No pressure, though.¡± Tadeus chukled in response. ¡°Seriously though, I understand if either of you two wants nothing to do with any of this. Just keep in contact so we can share any accommodations we come up with. Maybe even a cure.¡± He nodded knowingly toward Jennifer. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t think I want out anymore. I¡¯ve split myself several times since we last met, and I sort of rely on it in some aspects. I wouldn¡¯t want to cure it, but if you can help with the ¡®itch¡¯ I would definitely take that.¡± ¡°I want out!¡± Cameron piped up. ¡°I don¡¯t want to wear a hoodie in the summer or have people think I dressed up for halloween too early! Get those damn horns off of me!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you, like, chop them off? You know, Hellboy style?¡± ¡°I tried! They grow really fast, but never beyond a certain point. Besides, they are a part of my body and it hurts like a motherfucker when they break.¡± There was a brief silence after that, which eventually was broken by Lena. ¡°So you two are going to help us study concordis?¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ve done this already and you didn¡¯t poke me with syringes or anything, and I¡¯ve gotten used to splitting, so it¡¯s no longer a shock for me everytime. Boys out, though, I still have problems with wardrobe malfunctions.¡± ¡°Count me in. If there is anything I can do to revert this, I will.¡± ¡°Great, now we need some sort of big space. Most of our powers aren¡¯t the greatest, and, as you said, we will need a bit of privacy for everyone.¡±
One of the entities that reached out to Cordians after the Hank Baker incident was the Nebraskan Institute of Sciences. After verifying their story the institute was willing to grant them resources to study the effects of floyda concordis on humans. Anyone willing would be able to come to them, as they rented a pretty spacious compound capable of fitting twenty people, as well as enough larger rooms for seven simultaneous trials. As they entered for the first time, Jennifer whistled. ¡°Welcome to Floyd¡¯s school for gifted Cordians, I guess. This place is so big!¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.¡°Hold on. First, me and Lena are joint leaders of the project. Second, this isn¡¯t some superhero training academy. We are not going vigilante here.¡± ¡°Killjoy.¡± In the first week of testing, or ¡°training¡±, as Jennifer insisted, later supported by David, they came upon a new discovery. ¡°Remember how when I stop something that tries to move I feel hotter after a while?¡± Lena started. ¡° It is because I actually take away the kinetic energy from that object or person. And since energy cannot be created nor destroyed, it has to go somewhere. So apparently I absorb it in the form of heat.¡± ¡°We talked about it already. What is your point?¡± ¡°I tried to grab at the feeling I get when I activate my power on purpose. If I focus, I can¡­ not see, it¡¯s almost like an another sense¡­ I can feel the energy moving to my body. So I started to try to direct it. After a bit of trial and error, I am now able to focus that energy intake into a specific part of my body. But that¡¯s not all! Cameron, grab my hand. Is it hot or cold?¡± ¡°Cold.¡± ¡°Great. Now, grab it again, same hand.¡± ¡°Now it¡¯s warm. So what?¡± ¡°I changed the temperature of my hand in the span of a few seconds. What I¡¯m saying is that we can manipulate the energy inside our bodies.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®we¡¯? How do you know if it will work for anyone else?¡± Jennifer asked. This time Tadeus spoke up. ¡°Concordis is what gives us the powers, yes? Under the microscope, I could see the microorganisms work alongside my body to fix a cut. They took materials and energy from their surroundings and they proceeded to mend the wound. They were much more effective than normal regeneration, of course. What we think is happening is that somehow the little things are able to transfer energy perfectly, without losses.¡± ¡°Lena just said you can¡¯t destroy energy, so what losses?¡± ¡°What were you doing when they taught physics in your class? Every time energy is transferred, not all of it is transferred into the same type. When you turn on a lightbulb, only a part of electricity is turned into light. A huge portion of it is wasted in the form of heat. But concordis is able to transfer it perfectly. One Joule in, one Joule out. Perfect efficiency.¡± He explained. ¡°And since it is the same thing in everyone, everyone has access to this. Try to focus on your power, it always involves some sort of energy transfer. Though all of you create organic matter in one way or another, so the energy would be going out, not in.¡± The next three days were spent experimenting with the energy control. Since it required using their powers, Jennifer locked herself in her room. Tadeus still felt uneasy with the idea of self harm, so Cameron decided to force the issue and shot him with a spike. All three of them soon grasped what Lena taught them. Tadeus realized he could ¡°instruct¡± his body to slightly change its shape, which meant he could solve the issue of the lack of muscle growth. He now willed his muscles into shape, though he couldn¡¯t alter his appearance in any significant way. Jennifer could now direct the mass making her duplicate to grow from a specific part of her body, instead of splitting off from her entirety, destroying any garments in the process. Cameron learned to redirect the calcium from his horns towards his hand, making the spikes regrow faster while halting the growth of his horns. Unfortunately, it took conscious effort to do so, so his horns still grew during his sleep, albeit much slower. All in all, the Cordians were happy with the progress so far, and were ready to meet anyone else who might want to join them in the facility.