I thought I had seen a vast world
beneath my feet. I was then surprised
by the deep jungle that were the
minds of people.
An alarm rang through the room.
Ludwig stretched an arm out of the bed and tried to reach a non existing bedside table. He then writhed a bit closer to the bed’s end so that his arm could reach the floor and turn off the alarm.
Ludwig remained laid on the bed. His eyes were opened. He watched the cream colored ceiling. He then looked around the room.
He was in the empty room he had seen the day before. Nothing but the bed, him and the phone Laura gave him were in it.
Ludwig got up from the bed.
The weather was warm enough that he didn't have to put on his clothes while walking around the house. He went to the bathroom.
After relieving himself, he eyed the mirror behind him. He was able to see a thin and flimsy body.
Ludwig caressed his now weak body.
What a shame. It had been quite difficult to get into good shape. His hard work, now gone. It reminded him even more of the fact that he had been asleep for fifteen years. It was kind of sad.
He slapped his beard and shook his head.
It wasn’t good to start the day with some depressing thoughts.
Ludwig looked for a razor to shave his beard. He didn’t find any.
He then washed his face and headed to his room. He put on his clothes and unplugged the phone charger from the device.
Now that he was thinking about it, he hadn’t put any alarms the prior day. He checked the phone for answers and found an alarm set at ten a.m. with the captions ‘Go for a run.’ It appeared Laura hadn’t reseted the phone to factory settings.
Ludwig went downstairs. He entered the kitchen and saw a note next to some cash. He grabbed it and read it.
‘Hey, Lud Lud.
I’m gonna be gone for a couple hours due to work. Even though I’m using my vacation days, they still need me. What am I gonna do, right? Anyway, since
you don’t know a lot of the city, and I’m gonna be working for some time, why
don't you go explore and maybe take a walk? There’s a bookstore nearby. I
remember you read a lot when I was a teeny tiny toddler. That also reminds me about your books and other stuff. They got lost when we moved. Sorry.
I left above the counter a bit of money and a pair of keys if you decide to go out.
Oh. Also, your identity document came in the mail. I think I left it in my or dad’s room.
Have a good day.
Laura.’
Ludwig grabbed the money and saw a key below it. He picked it up. He then counted the money.
Laura had left him two hundred dollars. Ludwig guessed she didn’t know how much he could spend on books in one day.
That brought memories.
Ludwig made some toast while he sipped a hot cup of coffee. He then went upstairs and checked the office first. The document was next to the keyboard.
It still surprised Ludwig how fast everything had gone.
After a couple of days of being awake, Laura and Doctor Ernesto came in with some papers for Ludwig to read and sign. One of those was the renewal for his identity document.
The most amazing thing was how convenient it had been. He did everything from the hospital. He had to do it in the reception, but he couldn’t be mad about that.
After grabbing the plastic card, Ludwig brushed his teeth, grabbed his red hoodie and marched out of the house.
He walked on the sidewalk while thinking where to go first.
Since Ludwig was now a thirty-one year old, he guessed he should spend his money responsibly. That meant he shouldn’t spend all of his money on books. Even though he really wanted to. But his resolve to try and be a responsible adult was stronger.
That and also, the clothes he was wearing at the moment were beginning to stink. He should add them to the list of things he needed to buy, along with a razor and a wallet. Carrying loose money and his document didn’t seem like a good idea.
He continued walking until he found a store which sold a wide variety of things from what he saw in the storefront. Ludwig then looked up to the sign. ‘SIVIA’. Was it a new brand?
After inspecting the sign for a few moments, he entered the store. He grabbed a cart as he was going through the entrance. He then stopped to watch the interior of the establishment.
The store had black ceramic floor tiles illuminated by several lights that hung from a high up ceiling. High up there were some lamps which were turned off, with some loose cables close by. Even though the store was tall, it wasn’t quite as big or wide.
In front of Ludwig were multiple people with their own shopping carts and several rows of wooden shelves with products on them.
Ludwig continued walking as he inspected the store further, grabbing some things while he did so.
The store had a dark color palette. It made the products pop even more on the shelves.
Was that another strategy to make the products more attractive? So that people would buy more? Were the colorful products more expensive? Was that strategy targeting kids? Was it working on him?
Ludwig stopped himself as he grabbed and put in some socks on the cart.
He had done it again.
He had to force himself to stop, otherwise he could spend thirty minutes thinking about how a business man upstairs decided that having pink caps would make the soy sauce sell more. And although he didn’t have to do anything else, he didn’t like to waste time like that.
Mostly because people wouldn’t believe him.
Ludwig grabbed a pack of blue disposable razors and a brown leather wallet on his way to the cash register. He then got into line behind an old man.
The cashier was a young girl. She looked like she was seventeen years old. She had long red hair tied into a ponytail. Her face was sharp, and her nose had freckles on, and around it. Her brown eyes were looking at the screen she used to regulate the products prices’.
She pressed on the screen, then stared at it. She pressed again, and again, both times considerably harder.
“Come one!” She said as she hit the screen on its side. “Sorry, the machine's been giving problems for quite a while now,” she said to the old man in front of Ludwig.
“Ah. Don’t worry. I gained in patience what I lost in handsomeness.”
“Don’t say that,” the young cashier said.
She then pressed the screen one more time.
“Finally! That’ll be fourteen dollars and ninety nine cents.”
The man gave her the money and said his goodbyes.
“Thank you for buying in Sivia,” she said as she waved at the man. “Hi,” she then said to Ludwig.
Ludwig began putting the products on top of the counter. The cashier began scanning them. The machine, which she had been using, then made a loud beep and stopped working all of a sudden.
“You gotta be kidding me!” She said, giving out a big sigh after. ”I’m so sorry. You’ll have to go to another…”
She stopped as she looked at the other cash registers. They were full of people. Was there always so many people in the store?
She then put a sign that said ‘Out of business’, on top of the counter.
“It will take a moment,” she said to Ludwig as she pulled out a large book from beneath the counter.
She began passing through the pages as she looked at the products, their barcodes and the book, trying to find a relation between the three.
Ludwig looked at the girl, then at her name tag. ‘Reveca.’
“Does the price not appear on the shirts? He asked.”
“The shirts aren’t the problem. The shaving razors, shaving cream, the wallet and the socks don’t have it on them. That’s why I gotta find them. But it’s kind of impossible with this useless book. Why do we even have them?” She said as she began to pass through the pages faster.
Ludwig began to feel anxiety coming from Reveca.
“Hey, calm down,” Ludwig said to Reveca. “I’m not getting angry. And I’m not going to call your manager, if that’s what worries you.”
The girl looked at Ludwig for an instant, then returned to the book. The anxiety hadn’t changed.
“Agh! I don’t see them,” she said after a moment, her anxiety increasing. She turned around, “Michaela, can you help me out?”
Ludwig looked at the bar codes. He then grabbed the book while Reveca was distracted and passed through the pages.
He honestly didn’t know what he was doing. But standing still was only making him feel uncomfortable and sorry for the girl. He was skimming through the pages so fast that he wouldn’t have known if he came across the product-
He found them.
Was this his lucky day? Maybe karma existed and decided that yesterday had been a bit too much.
Ludwig looked at Reveca and tapped her shoulder.
“I’m just asking to use your register for a moment!” She then turned around. “I’m so sorry sir. I’m trying to go as fast as possible-”
“I found them.”
Reveca stood still with a confused look on her face.
“Excuse me?”
“The products,” he said as he lifted the book in front of her face. ”You were trying to look for these, right?”
Reveca grabbed the book and read the pages.
“Um, yeah, um… How did you… How did you find them?”
“Luck, I guess. It will be one hundred and twenty four dollars with ninety nine cents, right?”
“Um…”
Reveca’s anxiety wasn’t fading at all.
Reveca whipped out her phone and began typing numbers on the calculator.
“Uh, yeah… Was that… Luck too?”
“What?”
“The total sum. Was that luck or… You just added them all up together.”
“The second one,” Ludwig said as she handed her the money. “Could you also give me a bag? One of those ecological friendly ones.”
“Sure,” she said as she reached for one and handed it to Ludwig.
Ludwig then put all the items in the bag.
“Thank you… For coming to Sivia. Please come again.”
“Don’t worry. I will, Reveca.”
He then left the store.
Well, that was weird. At least he had been able to help. It also seemed he still had a good head. Being a former math champion had his perks. Even if it only meant to get out of stores faster.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Once Ludwig was on the sidewalk, he took out the wallet from the bag. He then put in it the rest of the money and his identity document.
Man, clothes were expensive! Being an adult struck where it hurt more.
Despite the fact that Ludwig was feeling robbed, he still felt happy that he had acted responsibly and didn’t falter under temptations…
He then saw a bookshop at the corner of his eye.
So responsibly in fact, that he should reward himself with a treat. And who said one really meant any number except one.
The bookshop was small, and sat next to a coffee shop. It had a building block on top of it. The exterior was painted mainly green with gold-like lines that curved their way from the top of the shop to the bottom corners, just above the displayed books. Its name was sideways and had a white color to it. ‘The Library Of Babel’.
It was nice to see some representation of other libraries apart from the library of Alexandria. He entered the tiny shop with an excited pace.
The door was opened. It was made of dark brown wood. Ludwig walked through the short brown hall. The first thing he saw was piles of bookshelves surrounding a wooden table where a young brunette was sitting. She had both a book and a notebook open, pencil hitting her chin at a slow tempo.
Ludwig approached the nearest book shelf and began reading the books’ titles.
He first saw if the title brought any intrigue or interest. If not, he would pass on to the next book. But if it did, he would read its sinopsis on the back. There were books that didn’t have it. In those cases, he would read the first few pages of the book.
After repeating this process throughout all of the bookshelves surrounding the wooden table, he had between his hands six books. He then tried to find the register. But he wasn’t able in the deep and pleasant forest of books.
“Excuse me?” Ludwig said to the brunette girl. ”Could you tell me where the cash register is?”
“There,” she said, pointing with the pencil as she finished her sentence. Still looking at her book.
He then saw a gap between two bookshelves. It looked like another bookshelf from a different angle.
“Thanks.”
Ludwig then entered through the gap.
He saw a wooden and long desk. Behind it was a white man with short brown hair and a clean face. He had thin lips and a chin that resembled a square. His blue eyes were looking intensely at the book he was reading.
“Sorry to bother.”
The man’s eyes looked up from the book. They were unflinching. Two blue dots, which looked at Ludwig like a pair of moons, were analyzing him. Studying every aspect of his being to the very root.
“Mmh…” The man said as he scratched his head.
His unyielding expression disappeared.
“What can I do for you?”
“Just buying these books,” Ludwig said with a nervous smile.
“Oh, yeah.”
Ludwig left them on top of the desk. The man then began to look at the back for the barcodes or any indication of their price.
While he was putting the books in a bag after scanning them, Ludwig studied his immediate surroundings. He had missed two things.
A tiny window at his right, and to the man’s left, that let him see the street at the other side. And a pair of stairs that ascended into a second floor-
“God dammit! WORK!” The young girl screamed from the other side of the store.
“Jessica, if you’re gonna scream at your book, go to your room! Sorry about that,” the man said. “Here you go. It’ll be fifty seven dollars.”
Ludwig faced the man.
“Thank you,” he said as he gave the money to the man.
Then something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention.
It was a tiny sign on top of the desk that said: ‘Try not to get your mind read. Ten dollars per try. Fifty if you succeed.’
“What is that about,” said Ludwig, still looking at the sign.
“What?” The man said as he followed his gaze. “Oh, that? Just a little game I like to play. Are you interested?”
“What is it about? Are you going to try and read my mind while I try to not let you?” Ludwig said, a bit sarcastically.
“That’s exactly it.”
Ludwig then seemed to remember that superpowers were now a thing.
“Ah… Yeah. Dumb question, right?” Ludwig said, nervously.
“Are you going to play, or not?”
“Um… It’s just that… Um…”
“You think this is a scam.”
Ludwig gave the man a sidelong glance.
“Yes…”
“Ok. Think of something really specific,” the man responded, reclining on the back of his chair.
“Look, I didn’t mean to offend if-”
“Just think of something!” The man said in an irritated tone, waving his hand in front of his face.
Ludwig did so. And the first thing that came to mind was the shoplifting attempt from yesterday. He thought about it lightly. Not feeling sure if he should just leave or-
“Aw, you remind me of when my girls were babies and hid in the laundry. Theirs had more poop in it, I’ll grant you that. Also, a shame you didn’t get to see some action, right?”
Ludwig looked at him surprised.
“So, do you still think I'm a scammer?”
“No,” he said slowly. ”Can you do it one more time?”
“Sure.”
The man then grabbed the sign and put it in front of Ludwig.
“Ten dollars,” he said as he put his feet above the desk.
Ludwig looked at him.
He then opened his wallet.
He had twenty dollars left. Ludwig grabbed a ten dollar bill and slid it across the desk.
“Try not to focus this time.”
Ludwig closed his eyes.
A moment passed.
He had pictured the moment when Professor Collman had tackled him. He then had imagined black borders surrounding the memory. He was trying to build some kind of barrier. And this was the only thing that went through his head. Maybe this would-
“Oh, what an emotional reunion. He even threw you to the ground in excitement. That reminds me of Bob. He was such a good boy.”
Ludwig opened his eyes. He felt some drops of sweat fall, annoyance building inside him.
“One more,” Ludwig said as he smashed the bill on the desk.
“You’re the boss,” the man said as he shrugged his shoulders.
Ludwig took a big breath. He then thought of his father’s death.
This time, instead of trying some sort of defense, he just tried to pry on the man’s mind. Similar to how he would feel some people’s emotions.
Of course, it didn’t work. But the man had yet to say something.
A long minute passed.
Then the man opened his eyes.
“What was I thinking about?” Ludwig hurriedly said, gasping for air.
The man let his legs fall to the ground.
“I don’t know,” he said, confused.
He then reached for something outside Ludwig’s view.
“Here you go,” he said, extending his arm.
He had a fifty dollar bill in his hand.
Ludwig grabbed the money and the bag with the books in it. He was about to begin walking when the man interrupted him.
“You know… There’s not many people whose minds I cannot read. Come again some other time if you can, please.”
He had extended his hand for a handshake. Ludwig took it and squeezed tightly.
“Sure.”
He then began to leave.
As he passed next to the table, he was able to see the young girl pulling her hair, struggling. He then followed her eyes and read what was causing the struggle.
It was a math problem. A hard one, in fact, and the girl didn’t look like she was past fifteen years old. It looked like they had advanced quite a bit when it came to education in these past years.
“X is equal to minus two hundred and fifty seven,” Ludwig said as soon as he finished reading.
Both the girl and Ludwig reacted in surprise to what he said. His head was a calculator that day.
“How do you know?” She asked.
“I just… Did it. You forgot to multiply this Y and this fourteen, by the way.”
The girl looked at her work.
“You’re right. Then that means that this goes here and…”
Her attention soon fell on her task once more, which Ludwig interpreted as a cue for his exit.
He then was about to leave through the door when another person came running into the store. It was Reveca.
“Dad! Dad! They’ve accepted me. Dad they’ve…”
The voice became quieter as she adventured deep in the store.
University, huh? Ludwig never got the chance to go, but he thought it would’ve been a fun experience. An expensive one too.
After five minutes had passed walking by, Ludwig realized something.
He was angry.
Despite the fact that he had won in the end, he still felt angry. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to inspect the emotion further due to the fact that it disappeared short after he had realized its existence. Maybe he was still annoyed by how the man had talked about his memories.
After all, they were important to Ludwig.
Ludwig then pulled out his phone.
It was two p.m on a saturday. Time sure did fly.
Ludwig was a bit hungry, but he didn’t want to go home. An idea then passed through his head. He called Professor Collman. Maybe he was free and they could go somewhere to eat and chat.
The voicemail answered Ludwig. Or maybe not.
Out of ideas, Ludwig just decided to keep walking, and without anything better to do, he began practicing with his threads. He trained by pulling them out, moving them around, and then pulling them in. It was a simple but effective routine. He could already see some improvement compared to yesterday. Although he could now maybe try something else. He still wasn’t able to bend the thread on itself. Maybe if he…
“Mommy, mommy, look! That man’s sparking!”
Ludwig saw the child pointing at him. He saw him.
Shit.
Panic began to flood Ludwig.
The mother next to the child turned around to see Ludwig. He was able to see in slow motion how her eyes got bigger and her lips began moving.
Ludwig felt how every muscle in his legs contracted, exploding with movement. Yet he stood still. His feet, stiff on the ground.
“No he is not. And quit pointing at people! It's rude!”
“But mommy!”
After a moment, Ludwig began running.
He wasn’t sure if someone else had seen him. But the best thing to do now was run.
He had been too careless. Using his threads in public would expose him to everyone. Everyone would know that he… He… He what? Everyone would know that he was a potens? That didn’t seem to worry the bookshop owner. He practically announced to every customer that passed through the store that he could read minds. Not only that, he was profiting from it.
He then stopped running and began walking.
Why was Ludwig keeping it hidden again? He wasn’t a superhero, nor did he have plans to become one in the near future. And even less a supervillain. But it also felt wrong. Not for nothing almost every person in fiction with powers kept them hidden, or at least their identity. They must have had a reason, right?
The problem was, which one?
“Oh, it’s you.”
Ludwig looked in the voice’s direction.
He saw a short man. Wild hair. Trimmed bear. Sweaty shirt. Short stature. Him. He was the one from yesterday. The one who had prevented him from going to the alleyway.
“And here I thought I was sweaty. Where do you come from, a marathon?”
“Huh?”
Ludwig then realized his situation.
He was incredibly sweaty. His shirt and pants now felt like a part of his skin. He looked around to see the street near the school. How long had he been running for?
The shirts in one of the bags was wet from sweat. Meanwhile, the other bag was barely holding. The strangest thing was that Ludwig wasn’t grabbing it with his hand, yet it still remained in the air. He gripped the bag’s bail, feeling something as he did so.
He hadn’t pulled in his threads.
Ludwig opened his hand and gave a sidelong glance at the bag’s handgrip. He was able to see a distortion in the space. Something almost translucent, but that still had an orange color.
It was his thread. Had Ludwig changed it?
“Hey, you good?”
Ludwig pulled the strings.
“Do you have some water?” Ludwig then asked.
“Yeah… It must be somewhere near here… Ah, here you go,” he said as he threw the bottle.
Ludwig caught it mid air. He finished it in two big gulps.
“Ahh… Thanks.”
“No problem, man.”
“No really, thank you. For the water and… For yesterday. My sister scolded me and made me promise I would thank you, so tell me if you need help. When she told me about how dangerous the alleyways are, she didn’t mention the reason. What… Why exactly is that? Why are they so dangerous?.”
“It must be for the dozens of bodies found in them these past couple of weeks-”
A phone began ringing. The man reached his back pocket.
“Give me a moment.”
He then moved away from Ludwig to have a private conversation.
Did he just say dozens? A body, sure. Two, a shame. Three, there’s a serial killer in town. But dozens? What in the world would amount that quantity…
Ludwig felt his threads twitch inside his body. Right, super powers.
He took the opportunity and used the pause in the conversation to stabilize his breathing. Ludwig then pondered on the implications of his ‘help’ offer.
Laura had been quite insistent on the idea. She had said it was the right thing to do. The polite thing if else. And, yes, it was. But Ludwig had other thoughts on why she had feverly suggested the idea.
He had no contacts except for Laura and Professor Collman, and the perfect opportunity for making new ones had arisen. Ludwig didn’t like to fall into stereotypes, prejudices or tropes, but he had to admit that Wet Wood was sketchy. With a few steps into the city, he had already felt something different from Expansion Valley in the air, and traversing such a place alone… Well, it wasn’t a good idea. Making friends was vital in these kinds of places. If not to hang out, to at least have someone covering your back.
Of course, someone who worked until he was soaked in sweat suggested the idea that he needed another hand. And maybe… Maybe that was what he needed at the moment. A job that could help him find his footing, get on with his life. He hadn’t mourned enough, not at all. He would dedicate the next months, maybe next year to do so. But the thought of being a burden to her little sister wasn’t pretty either.
The man put the phone in his pocket whilst he approached Ludwig.
“If you want to help, it would come in handy another hand. Are you up for it?”
Ludwig thought for a moment. He wanted to regain the time lost, the wheels back on track, do something while he faced the… Things that were waiting their turn. Sitting still at home wouldn’t make him feel better, and the idea of doing nothing was as depressing as the things he had learned. He viewed the opportunity as what is was.
The first step to a new life.
He nodded.
“Well then, have you ever been close to a gun?”
What?
—-----
Laura threw a punch at his foe, but he managed to easily dodge it and swept her legs.
She fell to the ground and saw how a fist flew towards her head.
It missed it and struck the ground instead.
“You shouldn’t focus on one point,” the man above her said. “Atlas are like any other human, but worse.”
“Doesn’t that apply to potens in general?” Laura said as she groaned.
Friction laughed as he got up.
“True.”
He offered a hand at Gravity. She took it and prompted herself with his help.
“Even though they’re softer, mats still hurt.”
They were in one of the multiple floors of the Ataki Tower. Specifically in the training floor designated to hired heroes. Close to the rings were several different equipment to train with. Running tracks, treadmills, weights and even some machines designed for potens. They were basically heavier weights or faster treadmills. PR said it made better advertisements and boosted sales and morale.
A lie, basically.
“Gravity, Friction.”
The both of them looked at the entrance of the training room. It was Jack, aka DP.
“Next week you’re getting a double shift.”
“What?!” Said Friction.
“Come on! Why?”
“Armstrong is back,” DP answered.
“...Oh no.”