A man sits in his office, at the top of his company's headquarters. He looks out the window over the relatively small city. I knew it was here. They all called me crazy but I knew it was here. Our sensors picked it up a few days ago. He adjusts his respirator, his lungs burning. Fuck. I can sense energies coming from parallel realities but I can't develop a way to get this damn thing off me.
A man in a black suit enters the room, holding a stack of papers. "Phineas, sir, here is the report you requested."
Phineas, adjusting his respirator once again, takes the stack of papers. "Thank you, Charles." Phineas looks over the papers, containing detailed reports and headshots of multiple teenagers. They all look relatively uninteresting... except one belonging to a boy named Paul.
"This says... he has the power to open gateways between realities?"
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"I'm Paul," the boy says as he extends his hand to Jackie. "What's with the suit?"
"For safety," says Jackie. "Why did Hank leave the room in such a hurry?"
"He's like that," says another boy who steps up to her. He's tall and has black hair. "I'm James. Let's cut the shit. What can you do?"
"Rude," says Paul. "If you don't want to say, it's-"
"I can make fire," says Jackie. "That's what the suit is for." She lights up the inside of her suit.
"Woah..." James stares in awe.
"What can you guys do?" Asks Jackie. James points his finger towards a can of soda on the counter.
"Telekinesis," says James.
"...I'm still having trouble believing any of this is real," says Jackie.
"You're telling me," replies Paul. He holds his hands up and creates a pink, opaque spinning circle in front of him.
"What's that?" Asks Jackie.
"It's a portal to a parallel reality," responds Paul. He closes the portal. "Some realities are just like ours, with details so small you couldn't even notice. Others are... way different." Paul ends the sentence as if he doesn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Who's that?" Whispers Jackie. She points to a girl sitting on the couch behind them. "Why didn't she come up to meet me?"
"She's..." Paul starts.
"She's weird," says James. "Even since she got here she hasn't said a word to any of us." Jackie walks over to the girl.
"Hi, how are you?" She asks. The girl does not respond, just continues to look down. Suddenly, someone bursts through a door on the side of the room.
"What's up?" The boy asks.
"Fuck, it's Billy," whispers James.
"Who's the new kid?" He asks. He must be at least 20.
"I'm Jackie," she asks.
"And what can you do?"
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"I can make fire," Jackie replies.
"Cool shit! I can make plants do stuff. I think the suits called it 'Chlorokinesis' or something."
Interesting. There's such variety in abilities here! I wish that girl would talk to me, though.
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Hank walks back into the room after a while. It turns out the only source of water in the holding room was the sink in the bathroom, so they had been drinking sink water for the past three hours. Jackie had to endure the suffocating suit, which made it feel like six hours to her.
"Thanks for leaving us with no water, asshole," says James.
"The higher-ups have something for you," says Hank. He is holding a platter with a few fast food bags.
"Oh, shit! I haven't had Blitz Burger for almost a year!" Says Billy. They eat their food, including the silent girl, and once they're finished Hank starts speaking.
"So, as you have all probably figured out by now, you have all gained certain... abilities. Now, we're not going to treat you like in the movies; you still have constitutional rights. But, for your safety, we will have to keep you isolated from the rest of society for a while."
"How long's a while?" Asks the quiet girl.
"I don't know, Abby. But I am fighting for the higher-ups to release you all on supervision. Oh, I forgot to mention it, but all of your parents have been briefed on the situation. The reason we knocked them out earlier is because we simply didn't understand the situation fully at the time." So her name is Abby.
"Until we come to a decision, we're keeping you here because of Shirxon."
"What is Shirxon?" Asks Jackie.
"They're an international weapons company, notorious for their shady practices and esoteric research. We've been... dealing with them for a while now. We've intercepted multiple unidentified agents on their ways to abduct you all, but as of now we can't prove Shirxon sent them. In fact, a few of them weren't too far from your homes when I arrived to meet you."
"What kind of weapons do they make?" Asks James.
Hank sighs. "Mainly assault rifles, but recently we think they've expanded into bioweapons."
"...So why don't we help?" Asks Jackie.
"What?" Hank asks. "The hell are you talking about?"
"Well... we have... superpowers. Think about it."
Hank sits still for a moment. "Absolutely not."
"Why not?" Asks James. "She's got a point. I would feel bad just sitting here and letting other people die for us."
"...Listen, a man with a rocket launcher is just as susceptible to a rock being thrown at his head as a man with no gun at all. It's still far too dangerous for you. Being able to shoot fire out of your hands doesn't make you immune to bullets. I'll be back later to check on you. There are some beds in that room if you get tired." Hank leaves the room and Jackie huffs in frustration.
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The armored man sits in front of the floating mirror, holding it with both hands. He closes his eyes and thinks with deep concentration. "...FUCK! WHY WON'T YOU WORK YOU PIECE OF SHIT!? FUCK YOU!" He punches the bed he's sitting on in rage. He places his hands on his helm to calm himself down. "Perhaps I am thinking about this wrong. How did he first use it?" The man thinks back to the first time he saw his master use the device. "...That's it!" He grabs the mirror again. "I wish to see where the gauntlet is." The mirror flickers for a moment, but nothing more happens. "DAMN YOU! Fuck. Okay. That's fine. Whatever alchemical ingredients he used to make it must be around here somewhere. Something with... Essentia?..." The man tries to think of a solution, but the ways of thaumaturgy escape him as it has escaped all but his master.
So instead, he tries something else. The man grabs every bottle he sees and throws it at the mirror. After one of the throws, he notices one of the liquids was absorbed into the mirror. "Yes! Hell yes! Mirror! Show me the gauntlet!" The mirror flickers once again, and this time through it is revealed a hazy purple vision of his master's gauntlet.
"The Casting Gauntlet... and wherever it is must be in the same reality as his remaining two soul fragments. Mirror, where is this?" The vision zooms out to reveal... nothing. A void of nothingness, naught but a dark sea of purple haze, the gauntlet floating aimlessly in it. "Mirror, where is reality?" The mirror makes a deep, moaning sound and the edges flash red. "...I'm assuming that means the gauntlet is outside of a reality. Mirror, where is the nearest reality?" The vision speeds away to reveal a small town.
"I see. An Earth duplicate... in Nevada."