This time when I woke up I was not in to much pain. My head felt like there was a bird pecking on it but at least the rhino had left. I looked around at a room that was fairly dirty. The walls were old and the wallpaper faded. Beside my bed was a guard in full power armour seemingly asleep if the gun that had fallen to the floor was any indication. I groaned and tapped the guard who woke with a jerk.
The soldier helmet vanished and I found myself looking at a attractive spiky haired red head female who had a childish voice. “Your awake then good they are getting you your full time level D bodyguards” I blinked “Wait my super power is level F at most how could my granny afford a level D bodyguard let alone two?”
“Your joking right? Superman might be able to blow up a city but how does that make him rich? You have the ability to remove toxins from the soil that makes you valuable. When the famine hit no one paid attention to the toxic waste dumps and by the time the famine ended it was too late. A bunch of areas were also polluted with super fracking as the press call it. If you sneeze in one of those areas you can cause a gas explosion.
I am being paid by some sky resort they want you to remove the pollutants from a couple of the resorts. Good pay and you get to live in a holiday inn for free with your grandma.”
My head was thumping but I realised I had bodyguards and super's at that. Something was up a F class super would charge a couple of thousand a day for bodyguard work. Why would granny pay a couple of D class super's to guard me? Why not hire a militia or even hire a professional guard service for less. After all someone who could lift up a bus and had skin as tough as steel might have been able to block a gun bullets with no problem. But now days plasma weapons capable of levelling small buildings were the norm. My friend Chad had downloaded instructions on how to print a pocket nuke. After a ten year old in Russia had actually his family computer to download and create 37 pocket nukes. When he accidentality set one off it had killed everyone in a mile radius. 85000 dead in a instant had convinced people that 3d printer technology needed to be controlled. Still my granny had kept the plans Chad downloaded for her and I had no doubt she had designs for a portable nuke.
The guard grinned and I was struck with how pretty she was. She winked “Listen your on easy street. Just do not let those bleeding hearts talk you into anything. Boo hoo my family farm has Formic acid in the soil and my sons hair is falling out. your here to get paid nothing else. Let me show you something awesome.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
I starred at the guard “By the way I am Max what do I call you?”
“You do not because your not suppose to get to know me but I suppose you can use my last name its O'Brien. Now watch this.”
O'Brien walked to a tap and turned it on. Then she pulled out a firelighter and flicked it. She winked at me and then put the flame next to the stream of water which caught on fire with a bang.
O'Brien grinned “Now you try ” I looked at the water coming out of the tap “Did you just set that water on fire?”
“Of course there is Methane in the water. One of the old fracking sites is leaking nearby. No one is actually sure what they used to extract the natural gas. So there is all sorts of stuff in the water. The thing is this is prime real estate or would be if staying here would not give you cancer. Now come on and try and set the water on fire.”
I tried to get up but was hit by a burst of dizziness. O'Brien snorted “Wimp ok stay in bed. Anyway you should not be able to set anything on fire.” I looked at O'Brien who chuckled “Its your super power idiot. To me this is water laced with formic acid and around 75 other chemicals that some that should give me cancer or cause my hair to fall out. To you this is water or will be once your power starts to manifest. Its why you a level F super hero need level D bodyguards. ”
I sat back in the bed thrilled I finally had a power maybe not a major one but still a power. All I had to do is find a place to lay low and work out my options. It sounded like my Granny had already set my path. For a second I thought about going another way. The government always wanted super's. Of course they did not pay as well as the private sector. I could choose either option but I decided I needed at least a month or two to come to terms with my new power. When I settled down I could look at my options.
Feeling a throbbing headache come on I stayed silent as O'Brien helmet re appeared. I winced and tried to check if my body felt different. I had a super power surely my body should feel different? I tried meditating and breathing exercises. There was nothing or nothing yet. Horrible it was horrible I got a super power and it seemed a passive power something I did not even have to focus on.
Finally getting bored I decided to ask O'Brien what she would do in my situation. “So what would you do in my place?” O'Brien voice was changed by her power armour to that of a robot cold and hard “When they ask you to sign your first deal remember you need body treatments now rather than later. Right now you have a fifty percent chance of developing a secondary power in six months or so. The right treatments will increase that by ten maybe fifteen percent. Even if you do not gain another super power the right treatments can help you strengthen your powers You will never no matter how much money you have later be able to come back and get that chance back. Also this is a capitalist society. They are going to come and try and suck your money out. Do not let them ”
O'Brien stopped talking for a moment and then spoke up “You know I would be happy to kill your grandmother for you. Your a super like me not one of those mud people. If she holds you back give me the nod.” Not being able to see her face I kept my face like a mask. Then I decided to try and get some sleep. When I was rested I would deal with my issues. Unfortunately the whole lets kill your grandmother discussion was rattling around in my head. So it took me a long time before I could go to sleep.