CHAPTER 6: SPARKS FLY
Hiro was becoming friends with this pool of water. She had made her way back to it. Alternating between light jumps and walking to get back as quickly as possible. She vigorously scrubbed her face in its cool water. It had helped clean vomit off after her first teleportation and now it helped her with the bird poop on her face. She grabbed her cloudy cloak from behind her and used it to absorb the water from her face when she was done. The spot she had dabbed her face with turned a bit darker for a moment. She stared at it.
"Did my cloud cloak absorb the water for later like a real cloud?" Hiro asked the empty cavern.
"Mostly likely Miss Skylark." Button said happily. He was always chipper though.
"Should I get a concept to do with water? Would it affect my ability to move through the sky and with light? Make it easier to call rainstorms even?" She asked him excitedly.
"You could Miss. As far as I can tell right now you are using light and atmosphere to condense and control the cloud constructs. With more control of the water, you could expand that control. Other popular combinations with the sky are with electricity, storm, or rain to name a few." Button answered helpfully.
"Hmmm," she sat in thought on the edge of the water. There was a glowing orb at the bottom of the pond. It had called to her earlier but she hadn't wanted to dive into the chill water. Now the call seemed stronger. "I think the orb at the bottom of this pond likes me more now."
"That is quite possible Miss Skylark. It is outside of my knowledge base so I couldn't tell you what it is, but I suspect it is water, depths, or even ocean. Those are all in the records of being at the bottom of the various ponds through the caverns. Is the water salty?" He asked.
"No, fresh and clean." She told him.
"Then it is most likely water, stream, river, or some other form of a freshwater concept."
"Why would someone pick River over water? Water seems much more comprehensive, River seems to limit what you can do." Her brow was furrowed. Why would anyone restrict what type of water they could work with? Seemed counterintuitive to her.
"Many get one of the bigger concepts, like Water or Light, and then get some auxiliary concepts to go with it such as river or rain. The broader the concept the broader the powers you can get from it. Some come in with a specific set or idea of what would work best based on generations of trial and error. There is still the idea that the bigger the concept you absorb the less room you have for other things. So far you have absorbed two big concepts, Light and Sky, and one medium concept with accuracy. Some would say if you absorbed water as well you could lock yourself off from getting more. But this has never been proven."
She thought to herself Time was probably a big concept. so really she had three bigs and one medium. "Are they really called Big, Medium, and I assume Small concepts? Seems so common," she asked.
"No, they have rankings, but I was trying to explain them to you in a way that was easy and quick to understand. The class for how things are organized is one you will take when you get to headquarters." Button told her.
"You have to tell me how things are ranked now." She said curiously. Button couldn't drop a hint like that and not poke at it.
"I can go over the basics Miss Skylark. Our ranking system is based on common metals found in most worlds and the way they are commonly viewed based on value and use. For example, the big concepts I have mentioned are commonly referred to as Gold quality. There is one level higher than that. It is platinum. In descending order, it is Platinum, Gold, Silver, Copper, and Iron."
"Not unlike how we rank sports, but we use bronze instead of copper, and we don't usually have iron at all. Though I do have several platinum trophies for video games," she replied.
"Congratulations on reaching such a high rank! It is not common to have anyone with a platinum-ranked essence so having even a game at that rank is impressive." she looked a little sheepish at the compliment. Getting to 100% in a game with a red-headed heroine that vaguely looked like her wasn't that hard of a feat. Button continued not being able to see her look, "We don't use alloys in our ranking system preferring to stick to pure metals."
This brought an interesting question, however, "What are the platinum concepts Button?"
"They are the concepts we have not been able to find and mark with pedestals. They hide themselves and only present themselves to a few. The ones we've documented are Reality, Soul, Time, Death, Genisis, and Space, but not as in outer space near the cosmic concepts you found." he clarified, "Often there is only one living person with each one of these concepts at a time. Though that isn't always true. Time in particular likes to overlap those who control it. Reality has been known to bend those rules as well."
"Add in Power and Mind and a gaudy gauntlet and you have yourself a snap waiting to happen," she murmured.
"I don't understand Miss. Power is a gold-ranked concept as is Mind. Why would you snap with those?"
"Never mind Button, so what do these people who get the platinum concepts end up doing?"
"They are trained in the use of their powers like the rest. But often they are called upon to correct great rifts..." she felt the flickering behind her ear of Button getting a signal. "I am unable to tell you more. I am being directed that you will learn this in history class and focus on your acquisition. It seems you are approaching one of the longest times in the caverns and the Director is getting anxious."
"Does it matter how long I am down here?" she asked brow creasing.
"Not at all, but I assume you will get hungry at some point." Button replied. As if on cue her stomach gurgled at her.
She raised an eyebrow at it and poked it, "So now you're hungry huh?"
"I do not eat Miss."
"Not you Button. I poked my stomach," she said in exasperation.
"I see Miss, May I suggest getting back to your acquisition of magical concepts?"
"Yeah, but one more question Button. You talked about the metals used for rank being valuable, how do people make money? Is there money at this headquarters?" After her stint of being a studio photographer, she had gotten in at a machinist shop making twice as much money. Her company had paid for her classes to get an associate's and then a few years later they wanted her to get a welding certificate to allow her to do more in the shop. She made good money that way.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
"There is a currency and you will be able to earn money by leveraging your powers after training. One of the things during training is figuring out how you wish to use your powers. Headquarters also gives you a stipend while training since you are a new spark. For new Sparks not to be unduly influenced by outsiders, they sponsor your training."
"Huh, ok, I will swing back to that later. Let me think about the next concept I want for a moment." She sat in thought trying to think of what concepts to explore next. She could make clouds and cause weather but couldn't control anything other than the clouds. If she added water or wind or electricity, could she be able to control the weather more? But what if she went back to her normal world? Should she pick up the ability to control metal and be the best machinist in the world? Nothing said her magical powers had to be combat related. Apart from her ability to harden light into armor and weapons and added with accuracy, most of her abilities weren't fighting. Accuracy was necessary in the shop as well. She could travel fast, slow down time to look at things better and create things out of clouds. She can float in the air and move through it and probably do a good job of watering crops if she made the atmosphere work the way she wanted. Sure she could cause lightning but she had no control, that was all the natural world.
"I think I want some more control over what I have already with my next pick. Something with water or rain is tempting, but the idea of using electricity to throw around lightning bolts is too magical of a superpower to pass up. I want to find electricity next to see if it's for me."
"Certainly Miss, go to the nearest pedestal and I can guide you from there." Button replied happy to have her moving again.
It took seven minutes and twenty-four seconds until they got to the correct area of the cavern. She walked in thought, not leaping through the light. She had to move around some of the destruction she had caused earlier, but it was a nice walk. It gave her time to think. The realization she had a Platinum concept was interesting but she didn't have a way to measure it against anyone else. Button made it sound great, but maybe she could just slow down time sometimes and that was it. She had a lot of high-ranking powers already. Accuracy was the only medium-rated Silver one. Hiro couldn't deny she felt more powerful. She could feel the air around her and the light on her skin when she was under one of the openings. Did everyone feel this way or was it just her? When would that change Button mention happen and what was that all about? Now that it has truly sunk in it wasn't a dream her mind had so many questions.
They could wait for now though. An orb that looked like one of the plasma balls from the eighties was not in front of her. Button had identified it for her and she could feel it in her atmosphere. She didn't even have to think that hard. It pulled her in as the sky one had. It was like what she already had.
She reached out and plucked it. Light rose from inside her again and her cloud cloak raced down her arm in sunset colors. The combination absorbed into it and inside the orb the ball of streaking plasma beams joined with the clouds. Soon lightning strikes were coming from the cloud banks. In a matter of moments, a whole lightning storm happened. She wondered if these speed-up versions had something to do with her Time concept. The sun that formed in the orb joined with the clouds and lightning to cast a rainbow through the cloudy sky. It sunk into her hand.
The clouds rushed out of her again and she felt it. She could command where the lightning struck now. Not only that, she had a greater understanding of her atmosphere. There was electricity all around her. Her light even had hints of it. How did lights have electricity in them? Was visible light part of the electromagnetic spectrum? "Oh my god, I'm an idiot."
"Miss? What's wrong? I didn't sense the power of rejecting you or the change happening. I thought you had another convergence of concepts. Two is rare and usually very good." For the first time, Button had a hint of worry in his voice. Still annoyingly cheerful, but he talked faster when he was worried she thought.
"Nothing is wrong Button." She said excitedly, "I just realized that electricity and light are related through magnetism and I bet I will have a fun time expanding my ability to use both!"
"That would be a fourth gold rank concept, I can lead you there, but your spark might be nearing capacity and might not accept it."
"I've been feeling a magnet-like pull to concepts all day, I think magnetism and I get along fine." She said confidently.
"That's not how that works, but luckily we're not far away from it." Button led her off to the right behind a connected stalactite and stalagmite.
Around the pedestal were small floating rocks in an infinity sign-type shape around it. Inside the orb were ripples in almost the same shape. It was like a drawing of magnetic fields in a science book made visible The magnetism had a pull almost as strong as the concept of time had. It wanted to be a part of what she had.
"It should be in the general area ahead, Miss."
"I've spotted it," Hiro told him dryly and strode forward to grasp the orb. She hadn't acquired two in quick succession like that, and she vibrated with the energy. Once again the concepts she had within her ran down her arm and into the orb. Electricity and light raced down her arm. The cloud went a little slower but she saw it join in a second later. The light and electricity merged with the magnetic fields contained within. Lighting them up and making them colorful and highly visible. When the clouds joined in she was surprised. Instead of clouds forming a storm like before, a bright aurora blossomed out. Greens, blues, and purples lit up like the northern lights before everything absorbed into her palm. An aurora bloomed around her body now. The small rocks floating around the orb flew through the air until they formed up around her. Hiro rose into the air faster than before. She beamed as the metal in the rocks responded to her new powers and formed up at the edges of the sky sphere she controlled.
She was deposited back onto the ground, and the rocks around her fell. "Hell yeah!" she fist-punched the air. "Third combination Button and I can fly now! Not just float!" She pushed out with light and magnetism and set up her own northern lights around her. "I can do so much with this! I can feel it!" She really could power was surging within her. She felt electrified and buzzing.
"Hey Listen!" Button tried to break in, "I feel the power rising inside you, You are close to the change. After three convergences, I wouldn't be surprised if you were at your limit."
"That can wait! I can fly!" She flexed her ability to use magnetism and electromagnetism to push off from the ground. Hiro manipulated the atmosphere around her. She had an instinctive feel for taking off and pushed herself along sweeping back the way she came. She flew at a pace close to running as Button spoke to her again.
"Miss the change really should be done sitting or laying down. I must urge you to land. The likelihood of you passing out is high, plus it is very messy."
"Button, I feel amazing! I don't think anything could stop me now! I'll just fly back to the pond so I can wash after whatever the change you're talking about happens," She told him in response. She flew back toward the pond pushing herself to go faster. She did go faster. Her sphere of influence stretched around her like a comet. Keeping pace with her newfound speed. Her vision blackened for a moment. She shook her head and willed the light to return to her vision. The light answered and she could see again. Her stomach rolled she was not going to vomit as she flew. She pushed the feeling down. She could fly, the change, whatever it was, could wait a moment!
"Hiro! You really shouldn't postpone the change. I can feel it trying to start. I implore you to land and lay down." For the first time Button sounded alarmed. The tone of his voice completely changed for the first time.
Button's tonal change as well as using her first name broke through her jubilation. The powers around her flared and she wobbled in the air. "Ok, I'm ready to land now Button!" She shouted over the wind around her. The pool of water she had directed herself toward was in front of her, she tried to slow down so she could land on its banks. Instead of slowing, however, her vision cut out again. Panicked she tried to slow time. Instead, her consciousness was ejected from her body for the third time. She watched her body hurtle away from her floating spirit version, through the air, and splash into the pond.