Chapter 2: Chapter Two

His phone's alarm blared with a loud echo and woke Eli up just before dawn. As soon as he opened his eyes he saw a notification hovering in front of his eyes with a translucent screen holding text written across it. Through the edges he could barely make out the ceiling behind it.

 

<Congratulations, Elias Newton! You have leveled up the following power: Teleportation Lv. 0 -> Teleportation Lv. 1>

 

With a grin, he grabbed his phone and checked his other notifications. There wasn't much with the phone lines still being down and a lot of traffic on all of the servers on the internet, but it still more or less functioned. He had a few emails from his grandparents saying they hoped they were all safe. Eli opened the most recent email from his grandparents and snapped out a quick reply before he stood up and stretched. Jealousy twinged through him with the realization that Dad could've done all of that in seconds without lifting a finger. Eli shrugged it off and went downstairs where Mom was already making breakfast sandwiches that smelled divine. She was in her domain up until she finished a plate of sandwiches and set them out on the counter for everyone else. He hurriedly put together his plate and thanked her before he sat down and tore into it with gusto.

“Good morning. I hope you didn’t go to bed too late.” She said with a pointed glance at him which he ignored in favor of taking a bite of his sandwich.

"What should we even do with school and everything being closed down?" Eli blurted out to change the subject as Mom sat down with a plate of her own.

"We’ll think of something,” she sighed without looking up from her plate. "We’re going to be stuck here until things get better," she replied without looking away from the food in front of her.

"Do you think things will ever be fixed?"

Mom sighed and put her fork down. "I don't know. This sort of thing has been something your father has hoped for all of his life, but this is honestly my worst nightmare. People are fine, I guess normally, but now everyone has supernatural powers?”

"Yeah..." Eli furrowed his brow as he thought about Tom beating him into the dirt and how after the initialization, he'd immediately threatened to burn him with his fire powers. People could be pretty terrible already, and now it seemed everyone everywhere had gotten some kind of power. Not to mention those with authority. Quite a few teachers scared him a lot more now that he knew that they had powers too. "How did this happen though? The whole world can't just decide to wake up and start having abilities that defy reality."

Mom shook her head, "I feel like this is something people will try to figure out for years. If everything doesn't break down by then."

"I suppose," Eli sighed as he ate with a slightly deflated sense of enthusiasm. He liked being able to teleport. "Hopefully there'll be enough good people that will be able to make a difference."

"Hopefully, not to be melodramatic, but I wouldn't count on it. Powers are scary. Their sudden appearance could bring the government to a screeching halt. We need to stick together and stay safe. Do your homework, I guess. Who knows how long school will be closed." She finished eating quickly and got up, giving Eli one last glance before she left to go downstairs to the basement.

Eli mulled over their conversation. Something bugged him about seeing his usually upbeat mother so… downtrodden. He felt conflicted. Dad had been ecstatic to help them experiment with their powers last night, but if these powers were really as dangerous as Mom thought… Would it be better to practice with them or leave them alone? He rubbed at his arms while he thought about it.

He knew that people like Tom would definitely develop their powers and would probably use any excuse they could to actually take advantage of them. Should he? After all, teleportation wasn’t dangerous. With that thought, he ripped off a piece of his sandwich and held it in his fingers. He concentrated on the warm, squishy toasted bread slightly coated in mayonnaise and butter, with layers of salami, cheese, and some spinach and tomato slices. His power flexed around him with the faintest buzz as it warped around the food in his hand as he teleported it straight into his mouth.

It was hard to imagine something so intuitive and natural being dangerous.

The novelty of being able to teleport himself and objects around was definitely not going to wear off for a long, long time. Teleportation would change his life. If he could travel farther than a couple of feet across the room anyway. He might never have to drive again! Maybe his parents would let him sell his car if he got to that point.

If things mellowed by then.

He glanced outside into the backyard and focused on the patio as the tunnel vision cramped his sight then dragged him to the spot he'd chosen to teleport to... and fell flat on the wooden deck with a crash.

Eli groaned as he climbed to his feet. He'd forgotten to think about standing up first and landed right on his ass. He looked back inside the house and saw Lana snickering as she walked over to join him on the patio. As she slid the door open, he reflected on how lucky he was that he had been able to teleport through the window. It probably wouldn’t have been good if it had broken and cut him to shreds.

"That was probably the most hilarious thing I've ever seen," Lana giggled as she showed him the live photo she’d taken of him vanishing from his spot at the table and then reappearing with an audible crash as he fell in a heap. "I'm definitely sharing that... wait... It's not working?"

"Huh?" Eli frowned at the thought of that going around school when he was already a bit of a laughingstock, but was puzzled as the phone refused to upload the picture turned into a GIF online. Then the screen flashed itself to the notes app and while they watched letters appeared already typed:

PLEASE DON'T UPLOAD ANYTHING ABOUT OUR POWERS ONLINE. WE DON'T KNOW HOW THE PUBLIC IS GOING TO REACT TO THIS YET. BTW THAT WAS HILARIOUS, HAHA. SORRY FOR HIJACKING YOUR PHONE. - DAD

"What the fuck? That's a huge violation of privacy!" Lana shrieked as she locked her phone and whirled around to try and glare at dad… but he wasn’t in the room. Eli shivered at the display of power and was doubly glad he hadn't tried to sneak online last night. If dad could mess around with their technology using his powers from wherever he was… what could other people do? He turned around to study their neighbor’s yards and houses from over their fence. Everyone had powers now. Who was to say somebody over there didn't have something just as scary, just as invasive? His family already had trust issues about strangers, and now he suspected they'd be far worse.

"Come on, we need to talk to him." Lana grabbed the door and flung it open as she led the way inside. Eli’s mouth turned dry as he winced at how her grip bent the knob from her vastly improved strength. "Where is he?"

"I don't know. I know mom went downstairs." Eli said not-so-helpfully once they paused next to the stairs.

"I know. She kicked me off the treadmill. I guess with Enhanced Athleticism I don't need as much sleep. I ran ten miles on the treadmill and barely even broke a sweat." She shrugged nonchalantly, but the gleam of excitement in her eyes was obvious. He smiled at her, relieved that she was showing an interest in anything remotely related to sports after she failed to make the cut for any of the varsity sports she’d tried out for.

"We'll try this." Eli said as he pulled his own cell out of his pocket and typed out a short message in his note app. Thank God he could sense technology or it wouldn’t really work with the phone service being out.

DAD, WHERE ARE YOU? WE WANT TO TALK.

For a few moments, nothing happened then a short message typed itself out. Eli tucked his phone in with a sigh and led the way upstairs to their parents' office. He knocked on the door and walked in with Lana practically walking on his heels.

"Good morni—” Dad started to say, but Lana cut him off.

"Are you using your power to spy on us?" She blurted out the instant she passed Eli to march up to glare at him over his desk.

"Not really... I guess it may seem like it, but it's pretty distracting whenever something is first used."

"But you're watching our phones!" Lana protested.

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"I mean, it's hard not to, the second it's unlocked. It's like a scream for attention, plus I saw Eli falling when you took the picture. After that I only noticed since Eli wrote 'dad'. I trust all of you and don't want to be a tyrant." He shrugged as his eyes moved as if he were reading, but a glance into his glasses showed that the monitor wasn't turned on.

"What are you doing?” Eli asked as he walked around the desk to try and figure it out, but the desk was the same as it always was. An organized mess of chaos with a shelf full of clutter and pages. The only empty space was where his two monitors were, his keyboard, and his mouse, but dad wasn’t using any of it. He was sitting with his arms crossed over his stomach and his legs stretched out.

"Working? My power basically lets me use technology as if I was actually interacting with it, but I don’t need to see it. As long as it has an output, I can see what it’d display. When I took a shower this morning I booted up the console and played a quick game with technomancy." He grinned at them both before continuing. "Plus, I think having access to everything like this is helping me powerlevel technomancy. I'm already at level four."

"Pretty soon you're going to be the real world's premier superhero if you keep it up." Eli joked even as Lana watched them both with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Sure, I guess. What I'm more interested in is the implications of what this will mean across the board. All of our powers so far seem to be somewhat common, especially you kids, so I want to try and get some security coded in to protect against that other than encrypting literally everything. Technomancy has some pretty nervewracking implications."

"Does encrypting prevent you from seeing stuff?" Lana asked hopefully.

"Only while it's encrypted. I tried downloading some encrypted messenger apps and when the app wasn't open or currently being used I had no access, but the second it was decrypted in app I could view it normally. Technomancy also seems to leave a small, but noticeable trail so I'm hoping that I can create some code that'll allow for those protections to lurk in the background. Like antivirus software."

"Are you going to try and sell it?" Lana asked excitedly. She’d been pestering their parents to buy her a car ever since they got their new jobs, but they kept turning her down. Eli hoped they wouldn’t, he had to save up and buy his own car, after all.

"Maybe. I'm torn between releasing the open source code once I figure it out or fully developing it and trying to push for a release through work. This is a really big deal. Everything is digitalized. I can't remotely piggyback off of the internet to a website and reach the backend of it unless I actively try and hack it, not that I really know how, but that doesn't change the fact that my powers let me easily see and make changes if I’m actually around the technology I’m using my powers on. Imagine if I or another technomancer decided to walk by the Pentagon or the White House or take a stroll down Wall Street. And that's if I'm thinking *big*. If we weren't basically in an enforced quarantine, I could go to an ATM right now and force it to spit out every single dollar bill it had. As easy as that."

Silence filled the room except for the whir of Dad's computer. Eli shared a frightened, but thoughtful glance with Lana. He had to wonder though why adult powers seemed to be so much more potent than theirs. Sure, Eli could teleport and he didn't quite know the limits of what his power could do but it wasn't anywhere near what either of his parents could do. He resolved to definitely try to use his devices less around his dad though. It would be like constantly having him peek over his shoulder.

Gross.

Mom could make a simple, but giant meal at a cafeteria or anywhere and heal everyone who ate a bite of her food. Or she could create a host of other effects based on what Dad said they'd figured out what the 'enchanting' part of her power meant, but if it was like an RPG use of enchanting... Could she cook something that'd light people on fire or do all kinds of other things? Not to mention her control of plants, which were also everywhere. Did that synergize with vegetables and stuff too? Could she make someone a salad and just decimate them? Not to mention dad’s crazy storm power that had gotten away from him for a second and blown out half their fence in the backyard.

These were only his parents' powers. If every adult got more... sophisticated powers as well as two, not just one, then he fully understood why the government seemed to be freaking out, even if everything was relatively normal at the moment. Other than being trapped at home.

"Wait, Dad..." Lana squeaked, causing both Eli and dad to turn towards her. "What about criminals and the whole prison system? They got powers too, right?"

"As far as the news knows, everyone got powers." Dad's phone on the desk glowed as it rapidly turned on, unlocked, and opened to a news video where the reporter spoke about reports of multiple riots taking place in countless prisons, as well as mass escapes. Chaos was everywhere in larger cities. They were only slightly safe because they were in the suburbs, but Eli suspected even that wouldn't last.

Lana sat heavily onto the chair reserved for Mom's desk. She held her head in her hands as she stared blankly into the carpet. Tears began streaming down her face as the audio crackled about the massive state of unrest taking place not only across the United States, but the world.

Dad stood quickly and rushed over to hug her tightly as the video continued to play even though no sound came out. Eli leaned over to peek and frowned at the headphone icon in the upper right corner. He watched the heavily censored footage of people blasting their powers against other people or against police decked out in riot gear. It didn’t seem like it was happening everywhere… but it was happening.

Eli squeezed his fists at his side as he thought about his barely level one power and how far he'd have to push himself if he wanted to catch up. Teleportation was all he had, but it might come down to his power to keep them safe. He didn't think he could teleport others yet, but he needed to be capable of it in case things got worse in their area. What if they got attacked?

It’d be up to him to ferry his family to safety.

With his newfound resolve, he glanced out through the open door into the hallway and teleported out of the room. He landed in the middle of the hallway where each of their rooms were and then teleported in a series of hops down the stairs, through the living room into the kitchen, and then outside in the backyard where he fell to his knees to throw up from his stomach bucking against the sudden tide of nausea. He pushed his fist tight against his mouth hard enough to make his teeth hurt to try and stay silent. When he finally finished retching, he teleported all of the evidence across the yard in the no man’s land between their house and the neighbor behind them.

He winced as he forced himself to teleport in place to transition from sitting to standing in the swaying grass as he surveyed the destruction of the fence in the backyard. A massive gap a couple of yards wide had been torn straight through the wooden fencing. The wood slats lay scattered across the lawn while most of the posts remained intact, although some were charred from sparks of electricity.

Eli teleported his phone from hand to hand while he studied it in idle thought. He’d have to get tools, but he didn’t know what he was really doing. Some of the knocked over posts could probably be teleported back into the ground. But what about the actual boards broken into fragments and scrap?

Curtains twitched from the windows of the house behind theirs. He frowned at the thought of being watched, but didn’t know what else to do. He definitely didn’t want to step into their yard though and have them think he was trying to break in.

He had a feeling that people were feeling rather trigger-happy at the moment.

"What are you doing out here?" Mom's voice called out from behind him, he turned and was taken aback at the sweaty state of her hair that curled against her beet-red face.

"I was thinking about fixing the fence, but I don't want to go into anyone's yard and I don't think we have any more wood. Also… I think we’re being watched.” He nodded as surreptitiously as he could manage towards the other house where the curtain fluttered as if someone peeked around it again. If he could teleport through windows… could other people break in as easy as that?

He probably could. Not that he would of course.

"Hm." Mom sighed as she crouched down to examine one of the boards that lay flat on the lawn. She brushed her hand across its grain. Eli noticed that the grass around her drifted to point towards her whenever she moved like how a flower moved to pace its petals towards the sun. "Well. My plant powers don't seem like they can really help yet, but I feel like I could maybe turn the grass where the fence was into a hedge.”

She stood and pointed her finger at right at the grass that grew along the fence. Blades of grass straightened like a soldier called to attention. Verdant light seemed to emanate from it as it grew and twisted itself into gnarled knots with its rapidly growing neighbors. She dragged her hand in a horizontal line until she'd pointed at the entirety of the gap. Slowly, but surely, over the course of a few minutes, the grass had changed into a strange sort of bush that was at the same height as the rest of their fence. Thorned flowers of white, blue, and yellow bloomed to dot the entire thing.

Mom beamed with more satisfaction then he’d seen on her face in years. Then her expression darkened as she twitched her hand a thorn shot out of the bush to skewer itself into the ground like a needle. “Come on, let’s head inside.”

When no further attacks materialized after several tense moments, Mom paced slowly backward away from the hedge fence and turned to look at him with clear concern etched upon her brow. "We should head inside, come on."

Eli ignored her to look up at the perfect blue sky. He turned towards the roof of their house and thought about teleporting up their to enjoy the rest of the day. Maybe he could see what was happening elsewhere. Get a glimpse of anyone else using their powers out in the open.

"Elias!" Mom snapped her fingers startling him. “I think we need to have a family meeting. I might have overreacted a bit this morning when we talked, but… I think we all need to talk about this and what it all means. As a family.”

He nodded then turned back around to peer again at the house behind theirs and frowned at the silhouette in the window. They were still watching.

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