I was stacking shelves at Brownbag Groceries, my attention flickering between ideas for innovative uses for my new powers and a YouTube video I’d seen on how smart bees are. It wasn’t until I heard Nina’s voice, strained and upset, that my attention snapped back to reality.
“And he refuses to give it back!” she said, her voice barely a whisper as she talked to another coworker. “He said he was keeping it as compensation for breaking his stupid heart. I should have broken his face instead! So now my TV is mounted on my ex’s wall.”
Nina was a coworker of mine at Brownbag. She was a little older than me, and was taking classes at the local community college. We never hung out in high school; she had her theater friends, I had…well, Nate. Since we started working together, though, we’d found that we got along pretty well.
I wanted to hear what had her so upset, but it seemed rude to just but into the conversation, so I leaned a bit closer, pretending to arrange cans of soup. It looked like she was talking to Luke, a lanky guy who usually works in the stock room.
“That sucks, Nina,” Luke said, “Did you talk to the police?”
She sighed. “Yeah, but they said it’s a civil matter. I can’t afford a lawyer to take him to small claims court. And…I don’t know. The whole thing feels a little silly.”
I mulled over her predicament, feeling a pang of sympathy. But it wasn’t my business. I had enough on my plate without getting involved in someone else’s drama. Besides, what could I do?
Then I heard the familiar chime in my head, and a translucent screen popped up before my eyes.
New Quest!
Heist
I groaned internally. Didn’t I have enough to deal with as it was? But the Quest system had a way of pushing me into action, and I knew I couldn’t ignore it.
As I considered my options, another thought struck me. If Nina helped with the Quest, maybe she could earn some Experience Points. If she got enough, she might develop a power of her own. But there was no way I was going to explain all this to her. My abilities were still my secret, and I intended to keep it that way.
I finished my shift, my mind racing with possible plans. Sneaking into her ex-boyfriend’s place seemed like the simplest option, but the Quest system had other ideas. It had a list of objectives that needed to be completed. The first objective read: “Gather Intel: Gain enough information to successfully plan the heist.” Turns out, this objective was non-negotiable. All other objectives were grayed out until this one was complete.
Great. I had to play detective before I could even think about playing thief.
“Nina,” I called out, catching her as she was about to leave. “I couldn’t help but overhear about your TV. That sucks.”
“You couldn’t help it, huh?”
“Okay, I deliberately eavesdropped about your TV. Anyway, I might be able to help.”
She looked at me skeptically. “Really, Li? How?”
I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “I’ve got some ideas, but I’ll need your help.”
“Okay, I guess. What do you need?”
A few days later, I was standing outside Rick’s house, feeling more like a spy than a grocery store clerk. I was watching as Rick left to meet up with Nina.
Nina would be waiting for him at a local café. Rick looked smug as he turned the ignition in his car and drove away to meet her. I knew the look. He thought he had the upper hand.
Nina had suggested they meet so she could “apologize” and talk things over. It was the perfect distraction, giving me enough time to execute the next part of our plan, which, as far as she knew, involved me breaking into his house using her key, grabbing her 80-inch TV, and somehow loading it into my car, by myself, to drive it over to her new apartment.
That clearly wasn’t how this was going down.
Earlier that week, I had ordered a framed poster of Rick’s favorite band sent to Rick’s address on Nina’s behalf. As far as she knew, this was just the first stage of the apology ploy, but that was just the beginning. The package arrived on his porch two days ago, and I intercepted it before he could get his hands on it. Carefully, I unwrapped the poster, painted an invisible portal on the front, and repackaged it before placing it back on his porch.
Now, with the poster hanging on the wall of his living room and Rick leaving to meet Nina, the plan was set in motion.
Once Rick was safely out of sight, I slipped away inside an unoccupied garage. The family it belonged to wouldn’t be home until much later. The neighborhood was quiet, most people still at work or school. My heart pounded in my chest as I painted the other end of the portal on the interior wall of the garage. Suddenly, I was looking inside Rick’s living room from half-way up the wall. I took a deep breath and stepped through the portal painted on the front of the poster, feeling a strange, disorienting sensation as I passed through.
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I tumbled awkwardly onto the floor of Rick’s living room, landing in a heap. It took a moment to gather myself, but I quickly stood up, shaking off the dizziness. The TV was right mounted there in the corner, just as Nina had described. I hurried over, storing it in my Inventory with a mental command. I’d meant to take the mounting too, but it stayed put. I touched it again, focusing harder this time, and the mounting, too, disappeared into my Inventory.
Before I could make my escape, I heard a noise outside—a car door slamming. My heart skipped a beat. Had Rick come back already? Had he forgotten something? I didn’t have time to find out. I scrambled back to the portal, leaping through it just as the front door opened. I fell through the other side and quickly dismissed both portals.
The adrenaline coursing through my veins made everything seem hyper-real, every sound amplified. I didn’t stop until I reached my car a few streets down.
I took a moment to catch my breath before heading over to Nina’s place. When I arrived, I took the TV out of my Inventory on the landing to her apartment, ensuring it looked as pristine as ever. With a deep breath, I rang the doorbell.
Nina answered almost immediately, her eyes widening in surprise and relief when she saw the TV. “Li! You did it!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me in a hug.
I grinned, feeling a rush of pride. “Yeah, I did. It’s all yours.”
She stepped back, looking at the TV like it was a long-lost treasure. “I can’t believe it. Thank you so much.”
“No problem. It was actually kind of fun,” I admitted, scratching the back of my head.
Nina shook her head, still smiling. “I don’t know how you pulled it off, but I’m just glad to have it back.”
As we worked together to take the TV and its mountings inside, I heard the familiar chime in my head. A new notification screen popped up:
Quest Completed!
Heist
Rewards:
10 Experience Points
$100
Nina Hernandez Rewards
2 Experience Points
$20
I mentally dismissed the screen, reveling in the sense of accomplishment that came from a Quest completed. I wondered what Nina’s power would be. She’d gotten enough experience to cross her first threshold. How could I find an excuse to analyze her with Help?
“Hey, do you want to come in and celebrate? I’ve got some snacks,” Nina offered, gesturing inside.
I looked at her skeptically. “You just want me to help you mount the TV.”
She laughed. “Busted! Hey, you managed to carry it up three flights of stairs, surely you can hold it up long enough to mount it on the wall.”
“Alright, but only if those snacks include pizza rolls.”
“And you didn’t tell her about your powers?” Amelia asked, incredulous as she benched nearly twice her bodyweight. Apparently, her Flaming Fist power also gave her a boost to her Strength attribute.
“Of course not,” I replied, spotting her.
Nate, lounging nearby, chimed in. “Why not, Li? She’s your friend, and you basically just gave her powers. Wouldn’t it be easier if she knew?”
I sighed, feeling the weight of the question. “Look, it’s not about not trusting Nina. It’s about keeping things simple. If people knew about my powers, it could get complicated fast.”
“Complicated how?” Amelia asked, setting the barbell back on its rack with a clang. She sat up and wiped her brow, her expression a mix of curiosity and skepticism.
I leaned against the gym wall, choosing my words carefully. “If people knew about your power, Amelia, what would happen? You’re strong and can shoot fire or whatever. People would probably want you to keep doing what you’re already doing—fighting monsters.”
“Sure,” she nodded.
“Same goes for Nate. His power makes him more durable. Great, but how does that really affect anyone else?” I glanced at Nate, who shrugged.
“I can also shock people who touch me now,” he offered. “I leveled up after that weird hamster thing from yesterday.”
“Fine, but unless you decide to go on a murder spree with your shockey-powers, it doesn’t really matter if anyone knows.”
“Fair.”
“But my powers—Quest and Help—are different. They could be useful to other people in ways that might put me in danger. Powerful people might want to use me if word got out.”
Amelia scoffed. “How? What’s so special about your powers?”
Nate interjected, seeing my point. “Think about it, Amelia. Quest has a reliable way to give people more power, money, and magic items. That’s a big deal.”
She paused, considering this. “Okay, I see your point about Quest. But what about Help? How is that useful?”
I took a deep breath. “Help can provide detailed information on anything I touch. It’s like having an encyclopedia of everything at my fingertips. That kind of knowledge could be incredibly valuable—and dangerous—if the wrong people knew about it. Especially because they’d have to wonder what it could tell me about them.”
Amelia grunted a concession. “And you don’t have any offensive powers that could help protect you if powerful people came for you, right?”
“Exactly,” I said. “I can’t defend myself with Quest or Help. If someone powerful wanted to use me, I’d be pretty helpless.”
Nate scratched his head. “You could just tell people about your Inventory power, though.”
I hesitated. “I’ve been...uh...‘borrowing’ things pretty regularly with Inventory. I could do without the extra scrutiny that would come from people knowing about that particular power.”
Nate looked aghast, while Amelia burst out laughing. “You’ve been stealing things? That’s hilarious! I feel like I respect you a lot more now.”
“Liam! That’s…that’s…wrong! We’re supposed to help people, not steal from them!”
“I’m not stealing from people. I’m borrowing from corporations. It was either that or do laundry.”
“Don’t you get paid to do laundry now?”
“Yeah, but apparently not enough.”
Nate still looked uncomfortable. He truly loved rules in a way I can’t properly explain. He says they force people to think of others at times most only think of themselves—which is a perspective I deeply value…but when we’re running late and there are no cars for miles, I wish the guy was willing to loosen up a bit and jaywalk with me.
Anyway, Nate decided not to push it and settled for changing the subject. “What about Fast Travel?”
I thought about it for a moment. “I guess that one should be safe,” I agreed. “But I want to wait until more people have powers before I say anything. It’s better to keep a low profile for now.”
Amelia nodded, her expression more thoughtful now. “Alright, I get it. Keeping your powers a secret makes sense. But, Li, if powerful people came for you, you wouldn’t be powerless.”
“Thanks,” I said, “I appreciate you training me and all, but against you or Nate I still wouldn’t stand a chance. Imagine if I faced a higher leveled person with a combat power.”
“That wasn’t what I meant,” she set her fist to burning with a crimson flame. “If anyone were to come for you, they’d have to get through me.”
Nate grinned. “Yeah, man. We’ve got your back. Just don’t get too carried away with ‘borrowing’ things, okay?”
“No promises,” I laughed, my voice tight in my throat. I couldn’t express how much it meant to have friends like these. I knew I didn’t deserve it, but I was determined to become the kind of person who did.