When I got home, it was good that I didn’t have anything else that needed to be done, because my thoughts were whirling. I had discovered that I could will someones “soul” out of their body, and if I did not hold onto it, they would die. If I did hold it, I could re-incorporate them just like I did myself, easy-peasey.
Such strange powers. Nevertheless, I was chuffed to have them. (“Chuffed” is a Britishism for “very pleased” – I’ve watched a lot of British TV growing up.)
What was more of a question mark is how I felt after killing someone. Sure, it had been in self defense, but I’d always heard about how taking life changes you, no matter what.
I guess what bothered more was that killing Kevin didn’t really bother me. I didn’t know if that made me a psychopath (or sociopath, always mixing those up), but in the end, I decided not to worry about it. I figured Kev had to die, and there’s no sense crying over what had to be done. So I moved on.
I counted up the money in the attache case, and sure enough it was fifty grand. Maybe I could afford to stop working tech support for a while as I dealt with my new situation and the complications it brought.
I poured a bowl of Marshmallow Froot Loops for dinner (only 350 calories for a 2 cup bowl!), played an MMORPG on the computer, and went to bed.
I awoke the next day to breaking news.
The first thing I do when I wake up is grab my phone and check for alerts, email, etc – just to see what the day was going to bring. So you can imagine how I reacted when I saw the headline “Florida teen uses superpowers to save hostages!”
Holy hell.
I skipped the morning routine, rushed into the living room, and flipped on the TV, scanning channels for the story. Which wasn’t hard, the story was everywhere, all normal programming suspended as the world met their first super. These days it’s almost a pickup line, “So, where were you when you when you first heard about Glory?”
But in the moment, my heart pounding, I watched history unfold in real time.
Her name was Gloriana Garcia, a Cuban American teen living in Florida. And her powers were not subtle.
The announcer said that there had been a bank robbery that went awry yesterday. The robbers hit just as the bank was closing. Someone pressed the silent alarm, and the robbers couldn’t get out before the police arrived, so they took hostages. An overnight standoff with the police ensued and things weren’t looking good. Then, in the wee morning hours, Glory arrived.
At this point the broadcast showed video of a young girl flying in like a comet, blazing with golden fire. She landed in front of the bank, still shining with that golden hued light; her diminutive stature radiating raw power. As law enforcement stood there with jaws dropped, she entered the building.
The video switched to the bank’s internal cameras, showed Glory effulgent, walking into the lobby where the three robbers were also stunned – though they still held their weapons pointed in the hostages’ direction.
The hostages were all in one group; Glory shot a beam of amber energy at them, enveloping the hostage group in what looked like some kind of hemispheric protective barrier.
One of the robbers came to his senses, grabbed his machine gun, and shot at Glory, but the bullets seemed to simply hit her shining self and land at her feet. She just stood there, head tilted, waiting for the shooter to realize his attack was pointless.
The shooter did, and switched his aim to the hostages, but again the bullets slammed into that shimmering barrier and fell to the ground, spent.
Suddenly Glory brought her hands together, palms facing up and out, and generated a thick blast of energy right at the shooter, which shot him into the wall, hard. He fell down and did not get up.
She strode forward two steps, her hands now wide apart and buzzing with incandescent power. The other two robbers dropped to their knees and quickly placed their hands behind their heads.
The video then switched back to an external shot of the prior hostages streaming out of the bank, followed by two of the bank robbers, still with their hands on their head, and bringing up the rear a petite dynamo with a man over twice her size slung over her shoulder. Handing them over to law enforcement, she flew away as reporters shouted unanswered questions at her.
The news feed cut back to the anchor, who reported that an exclusive interview was given by Gloriana Garcia to a local reporter, which would now be played. Cut to an interior shot of an ordinary middle-class home with tasteful if not expensive furnishings. A woman’s voice, presumably the interviewing reporter Gail Williams, said that she was invited to the Garcia’s house in south Florida to speak with Glory.
Cut to a living room couch with Mr. and Mrs. Garcia, a well-dressed Latino couple in their mid to late 40’s, and seated in between them a pint-sized pixie teen, with a confident and composed bearing: Gloriana, currently not glowing at all. The reporter set across from them in an upholstered chair.
GAIL: So, Gloriana, is it? [holds steno pad, ready to take notes.]
GLORY: [smiles warmly] Just Glory, please, only my gran calls me by my full name.
GAIL: And you’re 14 years old?
GLORY: I am.
I noted how at ease Glory seemed to be, how poised and self-assured, unlike fourteen-year-old’s I’d known. A mane of wavy honey-blonde hair cascaded down her back, while in the front precise bangs stopped above the deepest blue eyes you’ve ever seen. A small nose and wide, though not full, lips that always seemed to have a smile at the ready completed her radiant look.
Her fair skin, in addition to the rest, made me wonder if her biological father was the one seated beside her, or if she had been adopted. On the other hand, for all I knew, some Cuban Americans had blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin; living in rural New Hampshire didn’t exactly qualify me to be an ethnic expert.
In terms of stature, she didn’t look like she was quite five feet tall and no more than 85 pounds, slender but not skinny. She wore a stylish short dress that seemed simple and elegant. I noticed she sat with good posture, not slouching like the rest of us, and when asked questions, she usually paused a moment before answering them.
GAIL: You claim to be the same person who stopped the bank robbery in Hialeah this morning?
GLORY: I am. [Holds up her right arm horizontally in front of her in a non-threatening way. Golden energy suddenly suffuses her hand and forearm, and is just as quickly re-absorbed. Glory drops her right hand back to join her left, in her lap.]
GAIL: Wow. [Stares, then regains composure. Glory waits with good humor.] “How did – What can – What – ”
GLORY: [laughs, almost musically] I know, it’s quite extraordinary. I did that too for awhile. I’ve had these powers less than a week. I got them when the meteorites fell last Sunday. I had just had a slumber party with some of my best friends the night before, in a tent in the backyard, and we weren’t in a hurry to get up. We didn’t even know about the meteor fall until it happened – we had turned off our phones. But we got up in a hurry when we heard an loud impact, way too nearby.
GAIL: That must have been around 12:30 or 1pm. [Glory nods] Then what happened?
GLORY: We went looking for the site of the crash, which we found only a few houses down in the middle of our street. One of my girlfriends had brought and turned on her phone, and was videoing us and our find, would you like to see it?”
GAIL: Yes, please! [Glory takes a remote and turns on the TV, cuing up the video on her phone, she plays it on the TV.]
ANNOUNCER [VOICEOVER]: We were given a copy of the video, which we will now play for you.
[A shot of three girls, the one in front being Glory, walking briskly down the street to and fro, seeking. Glory shouts, “There, in the street!” and the group runs up to a small crater in middle of the road, at the center of which lies a rough hunk of crystalline stone, about 18 inches across, glowing a dim violet even in the noonday sun.]
I watched closely, knowing in my gut what would happen next.
[While the other girls act more hesitant, Glory enters the crater, albeit cautiously. One step at a time, she closes distance with the meteorite until she stands above it. She holds her hand above it, lowering it slowly.]
GLORY: It’s not hot! [Glory’s hand is only 6 inches above the meteorite now.] Just a little warm. [Slowly Glory carefully lowers her hand further, and then gently touches the rock itself.]
[Violet energy violently surges in a brilliant blast so bright as to make the afternoon seem dark by comparison, discharging into Glory and knocking her backwards ten feet. The smartphone camera shakes as the holder jumps back, and turns towards where Glory has fallen.]
[As Glory picks herself up, a burst of familiar golden energy coruscates around her once, and then again, blasts erupting from her body, circling her skin like lightning, and being re-absorbed, faster and faster, to a crescendo. Glory emits a full-lunged guttural shout and then falls weakly back to her knees, the light show over. She is panting rapidly as her friends gingerly approach, including the one filming.]
[As her friends help her to her feet, they inquire as to her well-being, and the video fades out, back to the living room with Gail and Glory, flanked by her parents.]
GAIL: So you got your powers from the fallen meteorite? Does that mean your powers came from outer space? [Gail laughs, a little shakily.]
GLORY: [Laughs more genuinely.] I guess so.
GAIL: So what made you decide to intervene in the hostage situation – what made you decide this was the time to get involved and use your abilities to help people?
GLORY: [Smiles again.] What makes you think that this was the first time I used my powers to intervene and help people? I think this was actually my eighth – but I’m starting to lose track. This was however the first time I was caught on video. And I knew I would be, but I couldn’t stand by and do nothing when I knew I could help save those hostages from a bad turn of events. So I did what I had to do.
GAIL: And I’m guessing that that’s why you agreed to this interview, you knew that despite your… aura, that your face was recognizable and people would figure out who you were.
GLORY: [continues] …and so I have had to make some very important decisions rather quickly. I’ve gone public. I’m reaching out to certain law-enforcement groups to offer my help. I’d like to put my new abilities to work for the common good and make a difference wherever I can – but keep in mind, I am only one girl. I can’t save the world and I can only be in one place at one time. But I’d like to help where I can and give what I have to give.
GAIL: What are your new abilities?
GLORY: That’s for me to know and for others to hope they don’t get to find out. [Smiles.] One more thing, if I may. [Gail gestures Glory to continue.] I have a very public identity now. So I’m declaring my friends and family off-limits. I’m a good girl. I don’t want to kill criminals, I want to arrest them. [The smile fades as she looks for the first time right into the camera.] But come after the people close to me and you will be making it personal. So don’t do that. [She looks back at Gail and smiles warmly again.]
The show cut back to the announcer at that moment, who said “So there we have it – Superheroes aren’t just in the movies anymore, now they’re in Florida – and who knows how many more are out there as we speak, with their own meteorite tales? Something tells me the world will never be the same.”
I turned off the TV.
No shit, Sherlock.