Chương 7: 6-The Game Begins

A long, long time ago"Come in," said Arimel, half a second before Dawn knocked on his door. The door opened, and Dawn stood behind it, her face dark with anger.

"Are you done showcasing those stupid powers I gave you?" she asked. Arimel sighed. He had not been trying to show off. As a matter of fact, he was trying very hard not to react to events before they happened, but his powers made it very hard. He had known Dawn would go through that door in half a minute with the same certainty that she would leave, seething with anger, in less than three. They were going to have a very uncomfortable fight, and nothing he could do could avert it.

He and Ahura had been gaining powers steadily over the last ten days, just after he lost… just after the eidocytes managed to escape from the test tube and propagate through the atmosphere. He had hit rank 10 that very same morning, and it had come with a significant upgrade in mental and physical abilities. Gone were his arthritis, his prescription lenses, and the eight pills he had to take to keep his bladder, heart, and kidneys in working order. The greatest changes had been to his mind, however.

He had always been an incredibly creative and gifted individual. When he looked back on his life through the lens of his new mind, he saw how many obvious clues he had missed in his work, and how many mental dead ends he had walked himself into. If he could walk back in time with this new brain of his, he would have cracked the eidocyte mystery in less than five years. And if he could have taken his prescience with him, he would not have touched an eidocyte with a stick.

He now saw that they were the harbingers of doomsday. He did not understand. He did not deduce, infer, or collate. He saw. The ability to see the future had taken science from him. He was now the priest of a cold, uncaring god called fate. And his new god had decreed that his recent actions had damned this world, but, in his magnificence, had also given the chance for Arimel to redeem himself by stopping the Apocalypse from destroying the whole Universe.

That was his choice, slayer of the world—or slayer of everything. Arimel wished he had never been born. No time to cry. There were things to do, and not much time to do them. He looked briefly at Dawn, and his mind saw her not only at the present moment, but the infinite possible variations of her, along the time spectrum. His power over her was almost absolute, at least for now. He could shape what she would have tomorrow for breakfast just by saying the right words today. It was not mind-control.

It was pushing her just the right way down the probability slope. Talk about the weather, and she would remember to get her umbrella tonight, but looking for it would make her arrive late to a date and cause her to sprain her ankle as she rushed down the stairs, trying to make up for it. Refuse to say anything, and she would walk out angry and confused—she would try to seek refuge in Ahura that evening, and they would reconcile. He could shape her future as a master potter working in clay. For now.

The smarter the person, the more uncertain his predictions became, and he knew Dawn had the potential to become much, much smarter than he was. When that happened, she would become a black hole, blocking the light, the one uncertain factor in the perfect clockwork world he lived in now. But, as of today, she was as predictable and easy to manipulate as a child.

"Dawn, you must start activating more people. The more you postpone this decision, the more people will die," he told her in his infuriatingly calm voice.

"How nice of you to illuminate me. And you do not even have to try to argue your position anymore—you are a prophet after all. Thus spake Arimel," Dawn said sarcastically.

"Why should I even listen to anything you say? You have broken the world, asshole! Technology is failing. We were a utopia, once. We are going to have people dying of famine in less than three months."

"We are not going to be so lucky as to die of famine," Arimel answered.

"Most deaths from now on will be violent, as soon as the eidocytes we mutated start manifesting in our reality."

"The eidocytes you mutated, you pompous dirtbag!" Dawn screamed.

"You did it behind our backs, and now it is an 'us' thing?"

"I can't change what I did," Arimel answered quietly.

"But we can change what is to come. If you help me."

"Fuck off!" Dawn stormed out of Arimel's office, crying in shame and anger. She had to walk down the stairs; gravity pits no longer worked. She ran down the stairs, as if trying to flee from her guilt. The air hit her face when she reached ground level. It was not a good experience. It stank of rotten litter. City services had stopped working one week ago. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Martial law had been declared.

Army troops patrolled the streets, trying to curb rioting and looting. Dawn wandered around, not knowing where to go. Most advanced technology no longer worked. The economy was in shambles, and people were trading by barter. There were only two kinds of people: scared people hiding at home and scared people raiding shops and grocery stores. It was chaos. She walked to the park near their home. There was no point going anywhere else, as almost everything was closed.

Only the local hospital and some charities still tried bravely to do their part. They had done this. Blaming it squarely on Arimel was unfair. He had gone too fast, but Dawn knew he would have eventually persuaded them to go along with him. She sat down on one of the park benches and focused on her breathing, trying to relax. Someone cleared his throat behind her. She snapped around. It was Ahura. She had not seen him for the last three days, after a very nasty fight.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him coldly.

"Arimel told me I would find you on this bench, sulking after a big argument with him," he explained.

"How did he get hold of you? Phones no longer work," she asked.

"He told me yesterday," Ahura explained.

"That is just what I needed to know to make this all less weird," she groaned.

"Dawn, you know he is right. We are losing technology. These powers are intended to help us survive without it," Ahura said with quiet intensity.

"I want you to meet someone," he quickly added before she had a chance to answer.

"Alal, please come in," he said as a burly youngster approached. She recognized him—he was one of Arimel's aides. The kid was in one of her classes, and she remembered him as a quiet, good-natured student.

"You are going to activate him, Dawn," Ahura told her.

"And what if I don't?" she asked defiantly.

"Then he will be dead before the day is over. Arimel chose him for that reason. He is going to depend on the powers you give him to survive," Ahura explained to his shocked ex-fiancé.

"There is one additional motive. Arimel thinks the only way you can gain ranks is by activating others," he added.

"I have activated both of you, and I am still rank zero," she answered.

"The system was still inert when you did," Ahura explained. Dawn bit her lip. Both her ex-boyfriend and Professor Arimel had been gaining ranks nonstop since she activated them. She was stuck at her original rank. As they became stronger, smarter, and fitter and gained magical powers, she was still the same old, boring Dawn. She was not sure she would like these brand-new powers.

Arimel could create prophecies that unerringly came to pass, and her boyfriend could alter his face and physical structure to copy that of anyone he met. What was more troubling was that, as their rank grew, so did their powers. She was not an impulsive type of person. She liked to plan ahead and carefully assess risks and benefits before making a decision. That no longer seemed an option. What if Arimel was right? She could not doom this kid for pride's sake. Damn that manipulative bastard!

He knew just how to get at her. Of course he did. He was a prophet, after all.

"I want to do it, Miss. Dawn. Please don't turn me away. I will die if you do," Alal told her gravely. That did it. She gently touched his hand, wishing for the power to be released in him. Something woke inside her soul and leaped into Alal's. For the second time in her life, her body and mind exploded as she turned into something new. Darkness encroached on her as she saw Alal's body convulsing beside her. Five minutes later, she woke up, her status screen floating in front of her.

Rank 2 (00%) Each rank will add 20% to your base potential. If the rank is a multiple of 10, it will be considered your new base potential. Gift: Learning 2 (Psychokinesis) Gift: System Vector 2 (acquired through Alpha). Can be used once per day to activate another sentient being. Activated beings gain System Vector 1 for one day. She had done it. Arimel had been, once more, right. Not only had she activated the kid, but she had also gained one rank by doing so, and even her gift had changed. Psychokinesis?

Her mind focused on Ahura and Alal chattering excitedly. The kid was describing his status screen to her ex-boyfriend. He had psychokinesis, too. It looked like her Learning gift was based on powers she gave to others. There had to be more to it. She was not sure she wanted to find out. She slowly stood up and started the long, lonely walk home. Ahura did not even notice she had left. As she walked, curiosity got the better of her, and she tested her new powers.

The street was littered with garbage and refuse, the telltale signs that civilization was beginning to unravel. She looked at a small plastic toy someone had thrown away. It looked like an essence car, no bigger than the palm of her hand. She focused on it and felt its weight as a presence in her mind. She enveloped it in a web of her thoughts and willed it to rise. The toy car hovered slowly before her face.

It was heavy, much heavier than its size gave it any right to be, and she had to drop it after a few seconds, shaking with exhaustion. Her powers were still weak. Magic. There was no going back now. All this was real. She had hoped it was some incredibly vivid nightmare. She looked around her, at the dying city. People would die if she did not play along. She had no other choice. When she reached her apartment, there was a single letter waiting for her on top of her desk. It was Ahura's. Hi, honey.

I am placing this letter here before I meet you in the Park. I know you will make the right decision. I trust you. Besides, Arimel has foretold that you will. Do not be afraid of him or his powers. Arimel's gift has more to do with probability calculations than with real prophecy. And that takes me back to the purpose of this letter. I wanted to warn you so you wouldn't become afraid. When you read this letter, Alal will use your System Vector gift for another volunteer.

He can only use it once, but Arimel thinks this may change as you grow in ranks. Dawn felt a surge of power wash through her for an instant. She felt invigorated and fresh after it. If his calculations are right, and they always are, you should have gained another level just now. So, hi, new Dawn! She summoned her screen stat in panic. She had gone up a level. Her eyes drifted to the last line of her System Vector Gift, now rank 3: Activated beings gain System Vector 2 for one day.

Then she knew Arimel had her, once more.