Elena raced through the streets on her mountain bike. At four in the morning the roads were clear, and she didn’t have to dodge through the stop and go traffic that usually permeated Stellar heights. The stockbrokers, or what her mother usually called them ‘scum of the earth,’ worked late, buying, and selling at all hours of the morning. She discovered this little cash cow by accident. One needed fuel to work at night and it’s not as if they were going to cook their own meals. This meant ordering out. Elena shared her mother’s opinions, but sometimes they were generous with their tips. She even managed to snag 500 bucks from a single night’s work once.
She rushed past 81st street all the way to the 99th to Greenseeker, the largest brokerage firm in the country. A grin practically tore her face in two when she first saw where the delivery was headed. She probably would have broken her already cracked phone screen with how quickly she pressed accept.
Finally, after 10 minutes of furious pedaling she saw the large building, which was their headquarters. At 120 stories it dominated the skyline. Elena hopped onto the sidewalk and found the bike stands. With a quick motion she hopped off the bike, locked the wheels and headed to the entrance. Stepping through the door she found the same fat security guard sitting there barely paying attention to what was happening. The pale balding man looked up at her in recognition.
“Another one Elena?” He asked.
Opening her phone, Elena double checked the name. “Yeah, for Annette?” Elena said. He did some typing on the computer and a few seconds later said. “Alright I see it. floor 107, office 208.”
Elena almost couldn’t hide her grin; such a high floor meant a big payday. She signed in then stood in front of a camera mounted to his computer. It took a picture which ran her through a criminal database. After it turned up negative for any crimes or outstanding warrants. He buzzed the elevator. The whole process barely took a minute.
“Thanks Carlos,” Elena said. She entered the one elevator whose button was glowing green and waited. It opened and she got in. It was a large elevator whose walls were made of metal, polished to a mirror shine. As a self-respecting broke person, Elena made it her priority to hate everything that screamed of wealth. This elevator was almost as big as her mom’s room. She glanced at the walls at her reflection.
Elena was tall, standing a full 6’3’’, with blonde hair currently covered by a helmet and bright blue eyes. Her fathers genes were strong in her. Even though she was only 17 she towered over most men. While she hated her height for most of life it did come in handy to stop the bullying. Turns out when you play volleyball since middle school and decide to kick a boy between the legs it’s enough to put him in the hospital. After that, most people decide it’s not worth messing with you.
Elena Exited the elevator after reaching the 107th floor and began searching the halls for Office 207. Each office was the size of a large house with clear glass walls offering an excellent view of the city at night. Finally, she found office 208 and a woman working at a desk. Her name was on the door in brass lettering, so it was easy to assume this was Annette. She was a red-haired woman of around 25 with gray eyes, beautiful by Elena’s estimation, especially with the glasses. Her office was as large as most apartments with two sitting areas, a lounging couch, and a bar.
With a fake smile Elena knocked on the glass door. The woman looked up from her computer. The exhaustion in her eyes being the only thing that reduced her beauty. She pressed a button, and the door opened.
“Delivery for Annette.” Elena tried to pour as much courtesy into her voice as possible.
“Yes, place it on that table.” Annette said, pointing at the coffee table. And immediately got back to work.
“Alright Ma’am.” Elena placed the slightly greasy bag and drink on the table. Then turned to leave after confirming the delivery. QuickMeals was the hottest food delivery app and good cash could be made if you find the right delivery. This leads to people only taking jobs with the right tip attached. So, some genius decided to change the policy to only have tips added after the delivery. Usually, people would wait to confirm the tip after the delivery person left, Annette immediately confirmed.
Elena was excited to learn how much money she made and after checking, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Five dollars, that’s all Elena got. Not even on her most unlucky night in Stellar heights, has someone been so miserly.
“Cheap, bitch.” Elena whispered as she walked through the door.
“Did you say something?” Annette said. A cold chill ran up Elena’s spine.
‘There's no way she could have heard that.’ Elena thought to herself.
“Ahh, No Ma’am, I didn’t say nothing.”
Annette returned to her work and Elena practically sprinted out of the building. Not even sparing Carlos a second glance. Three hours she had wasted waiting on a delivery to somewhere in Stellar Heights and to her luck she found a miserly stockbroker. Elena knew they were all the same in the end. The only reason they tipped so well is because at this time of night no one would do it without a good payday. Seems Annette didn’t get the message.
“Five fucking dollars.” Elena repeated after she left the building. Elena saw her office, the fancy tables, expensive wine and five bucks was the best she could do.
She got on her bike and headed back home. She rode casually passing large apartment buildings, shopping centers, boutiques. Stellar heights was amazing if you had money. Oftentimes she would imagine taking her mother and sister on shopping sprees and fancy restaurants. But a high school dropout and a waitress didn’t exactly pull in enough money for that sort of thing.
It took almost 45 minutes to get home. Two years of working as a delivery girl had made her used to constant riding.
It was a two-bedroom apartment on the fourth story of the Palm Shores apartment complex. Though most people call it the P block. It was decades old and ran down from years of disrepair. The elevator didn’t even work, so she had to carry her bike up four flights of stairs to reach her apartment. There were bike racks but that was just an easy way to get it stolen.
She quietly entered so she didn’t wake her mother or Ashley. She leaned the bike to one side and made her way to the living room which was also her room. It had a couch with a pull-out mattress and a TV that needed to be fixed. There was a black line through the center of the screen. With her heart still racing from the ride home she didn’t feel like immediately sleeping, so she went to the fridge and grabbed a can of ginger ale.
Elena retired to the couch, flipped on the tv, and muted it at the same time. She flipped through the channels, searching for something to watch. War in the east, celebrity gossip and general bullshit that seemed to serve as more entertainment than news. With boredom she decided to switch to SPNN. The Super News Network usually covered whatever was going on with the powered.
It was close to Elena’s 18th birthday and whatever hope she had of developing powers were dwindling fast. Noone knows why but usually people only develop their powers before their 18th year. It could vary by a month or two but after that no one ever develops their powers.
About 0.01% of the population develops abilities and it was completely random. Inevitably crime would be involved and the government decided it was best to fight fire with fire. So, the powered fought powered and it made for great entertainment. Elena managed to catch a rebroadcast of Queen Anix fighting some guy who could throw fire.
She wore a brilliant red bodysuit with gold accents that left nothing to the imagination. But a woman who could fly, had super strength, and could shrug off bullets didn’t exactly need body armor. By the look of her surroundings, they were in some urban neighborhood. The guy only wore a tank top and jeans.
She flew through the massive stream of fire without even singeing her long red hair and clocked him in the jaw, sending him flying and collapsing on the ground motionless. That would kill a normal person, but the powered were made of sterner stuff, so he probably only had a broken jaw and maybe a cracked skull. Since his head didn't fly off, Queen Anix probably held back considerably. The scene cut back to a reporter behind a desk likely discussing the events. Hot head is what the media named the guy.
“You know I hate that channel.” Elena heard from behind her.
She turned to see her mother, still bleary eyed from sleep, but dressed for work in her gray and white waitress uniform. Unlike Elena Her mother had green eyes and brown hair, barely 5’1’.
“Yeah, I know, sorry.” Elena said, as she turned the tv off. Looking at the clock She noted it was Almost 5:00 am and her shift would start in half an hour.
“It's all right.” Madaline said. She eyed her daughter up and down, noting her dirty clothes with disapproval.
“At least shower before you go to bed. You know I don't like it when you work this late.”
“We need the money and sometimes I get lucky.” Elena shrugged.
It was a conversation they had multiple times, But the bills weren’t going to pay themselves and there was Ashley to think about. They both know she couldn't stop, and Elena would rather work herself to the bone than make her sister work after school. Ashley stood a real chance of getting into a good college.
Ashley brought up getting a part time job since the minimum working age was 14. They both refused and without even a conversation decided to have her focus on schoolwork while they handled the financial burden, summer was the only exception. She had a real chance of getting a full ride if she stayed at the top of her class.
“I know, sweetie.” Madaline said, staring at her daughter with the same grief she had for the last two years. “I know.” she whispered again under her breath.
“You still haven't told me what you want for a birthday gift.” Madaline said with a smile, in a much more excited tone. But the smile didn't reach her eyes.
“I’m still thinking about it. Don't worry, I'll decide soon.” Elena said.
Madaline looked at her watch, and noting the time, gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before walking out the door. Her birthday was in a few weeks and it’s not as if she really wanted anything. If there was one thing she learned in her life it was that wishes were worthless.
The ding of the microwave woke Elena up. She didn’t bother to pull out the mattress and just slept on the couch. This did lead to her legs dangling off the side since she was much too tall for the small couch.
“Sorry. I didn't catch it in time.” Ashley said in a whisper. As if that was going to somehow put her back to sleep.
Elena sighed and sat up. “It's fine.”
Ashley was wearing blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt. She was practically a clone of Madaline, having the same hair and eyes. The tall genes completely skipped her and now the 15-year-old was likely to remain 5 '2’’ for the rest of her life.
“Rough night?” Ashley asked.
“Yeah, a whole 80 bucks for a whole night.” Elena said then she scoffed as she remembered the last drop off. “This one bitch only tip me five bucks. You should have seen her office. I busted my ass to get there.”
Ashley rolled her eyes as she continued preparing her breakfast burrito. Elena was always complaining about one delivery or another. She tuned her out, just nodding as Elena complained. It was probably therapeutic for her.
Elena got up off the couch and made her way into the kitchen. Then she took a frozen burrito and stuck it in the microwave.
“It's Finals week, right?” Elena asked. “Yeah, and don't worry about it, I'm ready.”
Elena ruffled her brown locks and said. “I know, you're gonna make us all proud. Here, get something good for lunch.” Then she opened her phone and E-commed her 20 dollars.
“You know you're like, two years older than me, not ten.” Ashley said as she fixed her hair. Then she checked the notification on her phone and frowned. Before she could complain that there was free lunch and she didn't need it, Elena said, “It's fine we’re in the black this month. I’ll see you later.”
Ashley watched her as she walked away signing as she pushed the ever-present guilt down. With a deep breath she steeled herself and got ready for a long day of school.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
An hour later Elena walked out the front door carrying her bike down the four flights of stairs to start her day. It was blessedly overcast so the ride into the city wasn't going to be too bad. It was a 45-minute ride to Dalton Heights and though she could make deliveries in South Shore County, where she lived, the city was more profitable.
Traffic was constant and depending on where you were going traveling by bike was often faster. It also tended to be a shorter distance which meant she could have almost 20 deliveries in a day, which was almost twice the usual. It took some time but eventually she narrowed down where she would get the best profits and what to look out for to avoid bad reviews. This topped her off at a satisfaction rating of 98% which she was shamefully proud of. At this point she even had regulars.
She was camped outside of Diamond square mall hoping for an order to pop up. It had many restaurants and there was always a chance for money to be made. As she waited Elena thought about what to ask for as a birthday gift. They couldn’t really afford anything expensive, but she couldn't outright refuse. Elena just had to pick something that everyone would be ok with but didn't seem like she was settling because they were broke.
“I do need some new shoes.” Elena mused to herself. The soles on the ones she was wearing were so worn down she could feel the texture of the concrete as she walked.
A notification popped up on her phone for an apartment building she was familiar with. Immediately she accepted the delivery and ran off into the mall.
Elena raced through the streets dodging traffic as she made her way to Aether condominiums. Cars clogged the streets, and the ever-present sounds of horns honking was deafening. She had to wonder if it actually sped up traffic or did, they just do it to annoy each other.
She passed through the city square, glancing up at the massive screens broadcasting advertisements. There was even one showing highlights from Queen Anix’s battle. The powered as people called them were everywhere to be seen. From billboards advertising underwear to game consoles.
Most didn't even bother to keep their identity a secret. It was optional for anyone who awakened, but if they wanted to do hero work or whatever shadowy shit the government did then it needs to remain a secret. If the powers wanted to use their abilities for profit, then it would be released to the public domain. Wouldn’t want a lawyer with the ability to read minds or something.
All the big singers, actors and musicians had some type of power that propped up their career. Elena didn't think Nikki Haley could sing all that well, but damn if it wasn't impressive when she was flying around a stadium belting out her songs. Now that Elena was getting close to 18 those dreams, she and practically everyone else had was quickly coming to an end.
Five minutes of furious pedaling later and she was getting close to the building. The large condominium looked as impressive as usual, and she was hoping for a good pay out. As she rode along the streets dodging pedestrians and traffic alike. A small pain started to form in her head.
‘Damn. I knew I shouldn't have had that coffee.’ It always caused headaches when she skipped lunch.
She was only about a minute away and decided to tough it out and get a proper meal after. But as she pedaled the pain started to get worse. Then as if a lightning bolt had hit her brain it turned into white hot pain. She lost her balance, her front wheel caught on the curb, and she was flung from the bike. Elena smashed against the pavement with her helmet saving her from any head injuries. But the last thing recollected before she passed out was a sharp pain in her left shoulder.
Jeremy was sitting in his office, eyes locked on every news article, internet forum and social media site that could fit on the 5 screens. After four hours of work, it looks like he wasn't going to catch anything today. He was a headhunter hired by the hero association and finding people who have just awakened was his primary job. His secondary, unofficial job was connecting them with talent agencies. Based on their abilities and well, looks. These agencies paid well for people with powerful or unique abilities. Everyone was on the hunt for another Nikki Haley or Charles Dumas.
A knock at his door interrupted his search.
“What is it?” He shouted to the door.
Tina, his intern, walked in. She was to sit around and wait by the phone for a call from some of his contacts. The ditsy blonde college girl spent most of her time texting but now she looked startled.
“Umm. I think there was an awakening in Delton Heights. Umm” she paused and looked at the small note she had taken. “Elena Crass, 17 years old, six foot three inches, blonde hair, blue eyes Admitted to the hospital after she crashed her bike according to your contact she was clutching her head in pain. It's an awakening right?”
As Tina listed the description Jeremy was typing furiously, searching through publicly available government databases until he finally found her. Tina walked over, looking over his shoulder at the screen. She was sure that some of these sites were not legal, but he was paying her double minimum wage to not ask any questions. Then he finally pulled up a picture of Elena and filled one of the screens, a broad smile came over his face.
“She’s pretty,” Tina said. Then Jeremy pulled up her high school website and managed to find a photo of her posing with the volleyball team.
“She's really six three. That must have been fun to deal with in high school.” Tina said. While Elena stood at the back, she was still a head taller than most of the girls. Then she looked at Jeremy who was grinning like a maniac.
“You really shouldn’t be looking at her like that.” Tina said. Jeremy was looking at her like a prize piece of meat.
“I’m no diddler.” Jeremy said in offense. Then returned his attention to the monitors and continued in a normal voice. “If she has a powerful ability, the offers will be lining up and I stand to gain a fat commission. Plus, with her height and looks we could have another Queen Anix or Nightingale on our hands.” Tina understood but still didn't like how he looked at her.
At Stewart Memorial.
Elena woke to the sound of strange beeping, shuffling feet, and quiet conversation. She cracked open her eyes and was blinded by the white lights of the room before she adjusted. A nurse was making her rounds then she noticed Elena was awake and said. “Ahhhh. Good to see you’re awake. Miss......” She looked at her clip board for a few moments. “Crass.”
“What happened?” Elena asked.
“Nothing major, you passed out and fell from your bike. Fortunately, you had a helmet on, and the only injury was a dislocated shoulder.” The nurse explained as she read from the list. Relief that it was nothing too serious washed over her, before dread set in.
“I'm guessing I was carried here by an ambulance?” Elena asked with fear.
“Yes?” The nurse answered in a questioning tone.
“Damn it all.” Elena whispered as she laid back down. Then she thought to her mother. “Has my mom been called?” Elena asked. The nurse looked to her clipboard once again and answered.
“Yes, you are already in our system and next of kin has been notified. The doctor will be around shortly, and you can be discharged after some follow up tests.” The nurse walked away and continued her rounds.
Elena laid back down silently cursing as she thought about the thousands of dollars it cost to ride in an ambulance. At least she was in a room by herself. By the looks of the place, she was still in Dalton heights. You don't get private rooms where she lived. Then suddenly a large man with a balding head walked in the moment the nurse left. He was dressed in a brown suit with a fedora of all things.
“Who the fuck are you?” Elena asked. The man did not look like a doctor, more like a used car salesman than anything else. He didn't even flinch at Elena's threatening tone.
“Good day. Elena, is it? I’m Jeremy Irons, a headhunter for the hero association. I wanted to talk to you about your future.”
“A headhunter, but I'm not…..” She paused as she remembered her accident and the blinding pain.
“Yes, you’re remembering. I think you have awakened and now you need but find out what your abilities are.” Jeremy said. Then he segued into a speech he had done countless times.
“All the information you need to use your abilities are in your mind. You just need to reach out and grab it. It's like having a third arm you never knew you had.” His excitement was growing by the moment.
Before she did anything Elena asked. “Identification.”
Every headhunter had to have proper identification and approval from the government to find the powered. Their jobs were simple: find evidence of powered individuals, assess the abilities and report back to the hero association. Most importantly they were under a strict non-disclosure clause that carried major prison time. He brought out the familiar badge.
‘Ok, so that's how he was able to get into the room.’ Elena thought
She searched her thoughts, her senses, and there it was. It was as if the power was always there.
She reached out a hand and an ethereal blue box around a meter across sprang into existence. Jeremy was staring at her hand in anticipation of something.
“Can you not see the box?” Elena asked.
Jeremy shook his head and squinted. Clearly, he couldn’t see anything.
“Do you have a pen or something?” Elena asked.
Jeremy reached into a breast pocket, pulled out a blue ballpoint pen and handed it to her. With her other hand she took it and placed the pen within the box. The pen became similarly etheric, and she could see through, to the plastic and ink well beneath everything had a distinct color. Then with abilities, which seemed to be burned into her mind the pen moved through the cube, levitating and rotating as she wished.
She looked over to Jeremy expecting him to be amazed but he seemed disappointed.
“Can you make the box bigger?” he asked. He took out a notepad and started taking notes.
She tried, but no, she couldn’t even make it smaller. “No, I can’t change it.” Elena said.
Jeremey’s mood was decreasing by the minute.
“Can you move it?” Jeremy asked again with some hope in his voice.
That she could actually do, as she moved the box the pen stayed in its relative position. But she couldn't move it more than a foot or so per second. Then it stopped after reaching about 10 feet in front of her. She somehow intrinsically knew it could be 10 feet in any direction with her being the center.
“That's as far as it goes.” Elena said. Jeremy’s eyes slowly lost the fanatical gleam as he continued writing in his notepad.
“Ok, is there anything else?” He asked.
“It looks weird while in the box but no I can't really do anything else.” Elena said. After about 15 minutes of trying different objects the initial estimation of her ability was complete. He finished his notes before handing Elena a slip of paper that looked like a ticket. It had basic information. Her name, power, and her possible rank.
Jeremy stuck his hand in and surprisingly it looked normal. Unsurprising to her she couldn’t move it in any way. Elena had to bring this letter to the hero association and be officially entered into their system.
Her stomach dropped when she saw her rank. “E?” Elena asked. Genuinely insulted.
“Yes. it's unfortunate but that is likely the rank you will get. Telekinesis is a decent ability and is usually an A rank but with the limited capabilities you have presented. It necessitates this rank. Who knows, maybe in time you can find a use for it.” He adopted a sad tone as if telling a terminal patient how long they have to live. Now that he had observed that she wasn't a danger to herself and others his job was basically over.
Elena wanted to argue but headhunters deal with hundreds of cases per year and telekinesis wasn’t an especially rare ability. The initial ranking almost never changes after the initial examination. Compared to what she has seen a powered like Mindfreak do, her powers were nothing.
Elena often felt like life was playing an unending joke on her. She was born with her dad's height and led her team to their first championship win. Then she fell, sustaining knee injury and was out for two seasons. Goodbye scholarship to Deltech, goodbye dream of being the next Raymod Fisk.
Now the 1 in 10000 chance happened and her abilities was ranked E. The best she could hope for was finding work in advertising or as a sideshow in a circus. The headhunters could be wrong, and her abilities were much more. But they were rarely wrong. Telekinesis, while not common, was well known.
After some follow up tests Elena was cleared to leave the hospital. After someone was awaked, they usually had a boost in their vitality. Nothing major, just an increase to their strength and stamina, usually around 30% to 50%.
Elena painfully managed to get the scrubs off and put on some proper clothes before her mother burst into the room teary eyed and worried.
“Oh, Sweetie, are you ok?” She rushed over and looked and Elena up and down as she finished putting on the shirt. It was an arduous process with her arm in a sling.
“I'm alright mom, the shoulder is just banged up a bit.” Elena sat down on the bed with her mother floating behind her like a mother hen.
“When they called, I thought.” Then Madaline trailed off, not daring to finish the sentence.
“I know.” Elena said. then in a softer voice she said again. “I know. I'm ok.”
“What happened?” Madaline asked.
“I was in the middle of a delivery and I……………...awakened.”
Madaline stared at her daughter in amazement, unsure of what to say. Seeing her mother’s stunned silence., Elena decided to just show her. She got her phone out of her pocket and once again activated her abilities. The blue box popped into existence and the phone took on that odd translucent color. This time unlike the pen there were dozens of distinct colors. The wiring, glass, plastics, the circuit board, chemicals in the batteries, they were all different. Instead of targeting the phone entirely. Elena focused on the plastic and removed the covering over the battery. It came off easily.
The headhunter only focused on her ability to move things, since that was what all telekinetics could do, but a part of her felt like she could do more. The strange Ethereal view was highly detailed. Focusing on the plastic cover, she realized she could see the numerous scratches within the odd ethereal view.
She tried to smooth out a single large scratch and just like that the plastic morphed and it was as if the scratch was never there. With that success she moved on to another, each time the scratches disappeared as she morphed the plastic back to its original form. The process became faster as she got the hang of it. In the space of a few minutes the once horrendously scratched back plate was as smooth as the day she bought it. So absorbed was she that it took her mother’s gasp to remind her where she was. That's when she realized this wasn’t telekinesis. It was something different.
“That's amazing. I’ve never heard of an ability like that.” Madaline said as she watched what her daughter was doing. Elena looked at her smiling mother. It was a true smile filled with an almost childlike excitement. Now she looked like a woman of 26 not 36. How long has it been since she had seen that smile?
“A headhunter came by, and he gave me an E rank. I have a month to get officially registered at the heroes association, since I’m not a danger.” Elena said.
Madaline scoffed, the very mention of them was enough to bring up her long-standing ire. “What would they know?” Madaline said. Her voice filled with resentment. “They don't deserve you anyway.” Madaline added.
Elena smiled, knowing that’s exactly the response her mom would give and agreeing completely. Then she started experimenting.
Madaline sat next to Elena on the edge of the bed watching in fascination as the floating phone began to disassemble itself. ‘Who knew phones had so many parts.’ Madaline thought to herself.
Then she looked at her daughter, her face fully absorbed into what she was doing. She was intensely focused, an expression she hasn’t seen in a while. In a way Madaline was glad that Elena got such a low rating. That meant the heroes association wouldn’t try to strong arm her into joining and she would be free to choose what she wanted to do. That was the only thing she ever wanted for her daughter.