Heroic Read online

  High Stand Bank’s greeting AI seated me at a desk and had me wait for a while. Unsurprisingly the bank was almost completely empty. There wasn’t more than a dozen customers at the bank, enough to keep the site open, but not enough to really populate the building.

  While I waited, I examined my surrounding. The building was high ceilinged, a rarity when considering that all space was a commodity in the towers. It was made to simulate one of the old banks, from before the Wild Surge confined us to the fortress-like cities that we currently live in. It was well lit and while it wasn’t spacious, it was still bigger than most rooms I’d been in.

  There were a bunch more desks like the one in front of me, spaced irregularly around the room. Most of them were unoccupied, though they had seating for at least three, two on one side and one on the other. Along the sides, there were small offices housing somewhere between 3 and 6 people in each.

  I noticed one woman exiting her office. She was clad like I expected a woman working at a bank would be. Wearing a conservative suit jacket and slacks. No one here wore anything other than pants. It wasn’t a fashion choice, it was a question of practicality—at least I didn’t consider it a fashion choice. Incursions were more at the outer towers, and the synthetic weave that most clothes were made of would stop smaller debris just as well as your shins would, though they were significantly easier to replace than your shins.

  At least in my experience.

  Not that I’ve ever had to replace my shins before.

  My eyes followed her as she walked. She didn’t walk like most women on this floor did. She was graceful but didn’t exaggerate her movements. I would’ve missed it entirely if I hadn’t already been looking, but when I noticed it, it was captivating. Her clothes tried to hide what was quite obviously a strong physique. I thought I detected a hint of squared shoulders and muscular thighs but was brought out of my staring—my creepy, staring—when two things happened.

  One. I was ogling the beautiful woman when I looked up at her face and into her eyes. Eyes that were staring right back at me. I couldn't be sure for how long she had known, but I could be sure that I was going to bury myself somewhere and never ever talk to anyone again. Then the second thing happened.

  Two. She sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the desk from me. I was pretty sure that I was about to die right then and there.

  ‘I cautiously looked up from the desk, to see her looking at me. I swallowed. “Sorry, for…” Kill me now. “You know.” I tried to articulate with my hands, by flailing them in every direction.

  “For staring?”

  “Yea,” I said quietly and returned my gaze to the desk. Any moment now my face would explode with flames, then hopefully burning me out of existence.

  “It’s fine, it’ll be easier for both of us if you try to forget it happened.”

  I might just explode now. Because of my embarrassment, not the other kind…

  “So your financials.” She said, clearing her throat and putting something on the desk in front of me. It was a cell sheet laid out with my current spendings. When arranging the original appointment, I had allowed the bank to assess my financials beforehand to come up with a plan. “Your current finances won’t be able to hold up to your current expenditures on…” she ruffled some papers around.

  I took a deep breath, reached down to my Foundation. I concentrated on the breathing for a moment, centering myself. I forced the embarrassment down into the bunker I’d fashioned.

  My Foundation was built to look like a bunker. Strong, sturdy and powerful, just Madam Mireaux taught me. It helped me manage my emotions, settling them into the very floor and walls of my creation. On the walls hung the most important things to me. A few framed pictures, including Emmet, Madam Mireaux—who taught me this technique—and Scrap, the orphanage cat.

  Tentatively, I raised my gaze. She noticed and shot me a reassuring look, then smiled at me again. She was awfully pretty, especially when she smiled, so I did the only thing I could and blushed again, though I did manage to only lower my eyes to the paper and not to the desk in front of me.

  “There are some pretty simple things that can be done to help you rein in your spendings and make living in your current living situation viable.” I nodded and pulled the little paper closer. “I also noticed that you’re regularly receiving small amounts of income. Is this something that we can reliably put into your budget?”

  “It’s uh related to my ‘power’” I said, sarcasm bleeding through clearly at the word. “It’s not a real Power, I just get small rewards for doing things for other people.”

  She seemed intrigued by the fact that I had a power. Most people were, not really believing that I wasn’t that great until they’d tried befriending me for a while.

  “Well if we can’t count it as a part of yo-”

  She was interrupted by someone throwing open the bank doors.

  Black and green energy writhed around a small woman, as she strode into the building. She immediately sent out two blasts of power, destroying the two idling security drones. There would probably be more of them, but it didn’t look like they would offer her any trouble.

  Chapter Seven

  I rest inside my body for a few moments, letting the situation sink in.

  I have super powers! I realize. And so does the villain.

  Worry nags at me, as I settle into my body. Would I have to do something? Didn’t power and responsibility come hand in hand? I might end up like her. Except for the insane part… hopefully.

  I rested for what had at least been like 5 or 10 minutes. Nothing happened. I didn't feel more at home. I wasn't more relaxed than I was outside of my body. The heavy weight I was dragging around was finally resting, but it felt more like… Like putting down a knife on the kitchen counter, versus putting it back in the knife block. Like it didn’t really belong.

  Oh god! What if I put it inside another person? I thought. What if, I have accidentally forced myself into another person. Spiritually forced my way into them. What if they’re dead? What if I’m possessing a dead person and that’s why it feels so weird?

  But, it didn’t fit right. The power gave me the ability to communicate and at least to some degree control technology. What part of a human was technology? Technically, if you spun it right, the body could be seen as an advanced organic robot, piloted by the soul and the brain. Maybe I had high jacked the brain of someone else, forcing myself into their stead.

  No, that would’ve been some sort of spiritual kinesis power, not technopathy.

  I didn’t want to come to the conclusion. I tried throwing it away as far as it could go. But it kept returning, like a gods-damned eternal boomerang.

  Maybe my body took damage and that’s why it’s acting so weird. I threw the damned thing one more time. I really hoped it didn’t come back.

  Maybe I didn’t fit my soul in right? That’s why there’s no pain. Maybe it was just a strong bump to the head. That woman looked plenty strong. She could’ve carried me, then when the villain blasted out that area in the middle of the bank. Right where… we had almost been sitting right? I hadn’t died. I couldn’t have. The woman must’ve seen my body go limp and dragged me away. That must be it. It has to be.

  I shrugged, at least it tried to, but couldn't move. At all. Not an inch. I tried to feel for my legs, my arms, my beast born eyelids. Anything.

  Nothing. I felt nothing. There was no physical feedback from anything. I could no longer feel anything. I’d have to face it. I might be dead, and there was nothing I could do about it, no matter how terrible it was.

  Except I wasn't dead. I was very much alive. I was living and breathing… actually as far as I could tell scratch that last one. I was living proof that I wasn't dead yet. I still had a chance. I could get a prosthetic body. Something like the victims from villain attacks or incursions get, but for my entire body. I might be classified as a MagAI then.

  What was a MagAI, if not a robot with a soul and a livin
g intelligence. If there was one thing you could say about me it was that I was a living intelligence. Barely.

  All I had to do, was survive long enough for me to get a brand new body with empowered strength and speed! Just like those expensive prosthetics. Except, how would I survive that long? I didn’t have enough money for an enhanced body. I didn’t even have enough for an enhanced limb. It wasn’t like I could prove who I was to the insurance company.

  ‘Yea hi! I was killed during a villain attack. Yup, she decided to hold an entire bank hostage and she killed me. Except I managed to possess this…’

  Actually, what am I in? A computer? I couldn't tell, but it was one of the only viable things that could still hold me, at least if a phone wasn't big enough.

  ‘Can’t you see I managed to possess this here computer, Mr. Insurance guy? Well, check my soul if you don't believe me. Now I would like a brand, spanking, new enhanced robotic body. Preferably one with a super member. Something that would knock the socks off the nearest woman, please!’

  Like that was going to work. Pshhh.

  I had to think more rationally. Take a lesson from my mechanical brethren. Work through this as a process in a program. So what is step 1? Assess the situation? Yeaa, sure.

  With but a few moments hesitation. I started questing outward from my little shell of safety. It felt weird. I still wasn’t used to working my new power. I stretched myself outwards slowly, being careful not to let that weight get dislodged, I didn’t even want to think about what that was.

  I stretched for long… seconds? Minutes? Hours? It was incredibly hard to tell when the only information you had was that you were moving. Suddenly I came upon something. It was something weird. It was a lot of things, but it was also a camera.

  I did a little mental skip of joy and accessed the camera. I was immediately greeted by the sight of an overweight middle aged man, looking intently into my eyes… my lens.

  Front camera. Maybe there’s a… yup.

  A quick search and I hopped over to the back camera. A whole different scene popped out in front of me. It was the bank, as seen from one of the glass-walled offices. The villain was there, next to a huge hole she had etched into the ground. Smoke still rose lazily from a few spots inside it. I let out a shiver and my entire view vibrated.

  Woops. I accidentally activated the vibration motor in the phone. Luckily the man didn’t seem to notice.

  I couldn't hear what the villain was saying, or judging from her stance and previous behavior, screaming. There must be a microphone here somewhere…

  “…have the yacht! You will get me a yacht or I will fucking kill everyone!”

  Found the microphone, and immediately regretted it. I quickly disconnected from it, returning to just the camera. Much better, she only seemed slightly angry with the camera on, not psychotic. She would have to be insane to think getting a yacht would be a good idea. I’d heard that there was a yacht in a museum on one of the Inner Towers, but personally, I couldn't imagine why anyone would ever want to go out onto the water, let alone the ocean.

  I almost shivered again but stopped myself. Didn’t want to get too obvious. Anyways, step 1 had been completed, right? I had assessed the situation. The crazy villain was still there, but someone else had arrived and she was yelling at them while threatening us.

  I shrank back to my hidey-hole. What’s step 2 then? Descending into a deep and mentally exhausting panic? No, no. Not yet. There were other things to worry about. Like getting my body back. Except…

  And there was other stuff. How would I go to work now? I could hardly show up at work, shoot Erik a text. ‘Yea man, I’m at work, don't even worry about it.’ I don't think anyone would believe it, not even the good-natured and slightly technology halted Erik. If I wasn't at the desk, I wasn’t working. That was something he had actually said to me, while we were both standing in the kitchen.

  And what about my finances? How would I manage them? Would my new proximity to computers enhance my mental capacities? Could I become a human supercomputer? Then fixing the finance problem would be a cake walk.

  What’s next? Step 3? I think I’ve managed spectacularly so far. Step 3. I could make it my panic step. I was pretty sure of that. Anyway, it was already too late. If I could breathe I would be hyperventilating, luckily I couldn't. I could however still feel like I couldn't breathe. Since I couldn’t actually breathe, I couldn't find any way to stop myself.

  Darkness was all around me. I could either look at an older man or an insane villain. Or I could let myself writhe in my panic. The old man was better than this. I reached out, but whenever I tried to stretch away from my safety my tendril of power fell to pieces. The darkness was encroaching on me.

  It was choking me.

  I wasn’t dying. I couldn't die. Not again. Not yet.

  But the world around me could…

  I’d thought I was blind before, but now everything disappeared and I truly was alone.

  Rubble was pressing down on me. I couldn't breathe. Dust and debris filled my eyes. They itched. But I couldn't move. The wall, even broken as it was, was too heavy.

  Mom.

  Dad.

  I was alone again.

  Chapter Eight

  Oh shit. I thought. Of all the days to miss an appointment, I had to do yesterday.

  “Listen up everyone!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. Not yelled, screamed. This bitch was clearly unstable. She surveyed the room, bobbing up and down on her writhing energy waves.

  Looking around I realized just such a situation might be why the bank’s layout was the way it was. The seemingly randomly placed desks, now served as a foil for the villain. The desks were all spread out too far for her to easily keep as all in sight.

  “Everyone! Gather over there.” She pointed towards one of the glass offices, off to the side. “I don’t want none of you to think you can play hero here! Anyone who tries any heroic acts gets to play security drone!” She was once again screaming and laughing.

  “I didn’t think there were supposed to be people who were evil just to be evil,” I mumbled. Unfortunately, the woman who had been helping me with my finances didn’t seem to think my comment was that funny. She actually seemed rather tense.

  "If you don't start moving now!" The villain screamed. "I'll count to fucking 3!" She waved an arm out in front of her. The table closest to her was pushed slightly backward and started smoking as if acid was poured onto it.

  I swallowed and stumbled to my feet. "Let's go." I hissed at the woman next to me, but she seemed frozen. I looked into her eyes and I saw a moment of indecision. For some reason, I thought she might try to fight the villain. I had seen her athletic frame, even through her clothes. She had probably been working out, for just such a moment. A chance to stand out, be noticed. For some hero to acknowledge how great she was and take her into the inner city.

  "I said MOVE!!!" The villain screamed. She flung her arms out in her fury, sending blasts of power in every direction. Unfortunately, one of them was heading for us. I didn't realize I was moving until after I had dived for the woman. I cursed the subtle training my ‘superpower' had given me, as I pulled her to the ground, knocking the desk over in my movement too. This was the exact thing the villain had just said to avoid. The wave of energy blasted by over us, and I could feel the edges of my shirt wither, as I was obviously too close.

  True Heroic Deed:

  Safe a life.

  Rewards: 500 credits, 1500 Tessian points, and 1 Heroic Deed Token.

  Second Power Unlocked:

  Technopathy.

  The ability to mentally communicate and control technology.

  Requirements: 10,000 hours in front of technology of any sort. Accomplish a True Heroic Deed.

  Cost: 100,000 Tessian Points and 1 Heroic Deed Token.

  I stared blankly at the screen for a moment. A Power. I had unlocked a power, and all I had to do was risk my own life, in order to save a pretty woman’s. That wasn’t
too bad. I’d do it just because it would mean I met more pretty women.

  I willed the power option open. Sure enough, right there. Technopathy for a 100,000 points. I of course immediately bought it. I was in a life or death situation, what did I know? It might help me survive for another minute or maybe even survive until a hero would come and take the villain in.

  One moment I was feeling slight awe and wonder with the idea that I might gain a superpower. The next my mind was exploding in a 100 different ways. People were screaming at me. People were whispering to me. People were showing the screens in my face forcing me to look down upon the bank from a dozen different angles. Someone was repeatedly slapping me telling me to step away.

  All at the same time. I could barely see straight with all the sensory input. I couldn’t discern any of the screaming voices from the villain’s, though one I was certain one of the views showed her screaming and twirling about.