Kennedy’s heart ached for her, and she sent reassurance her way. Dawn let the faux vacant look in her eyes slip enough to give Kennedy an appreciative smile.
“Okay folks,” said Bubb-Bill, “we’re picking up our blank space in the far northeast corner. Start heading that way.”
They walked past racks of clothes, home goods, and toys, finally ending up in the electronics section. One of the demo game console stations appeared to be playing itself.
“Ghost!” Cait stage-whispered to Kennedy. “I’m gonna start swin-,”
Kennedy elbowed her in the ribs.
“Ass,” She admonished. “Given that we don’t really know the effects of the field, you’re going to have to handle first contact. Do. Not. Punch. The. Child.”
Cait rolled her eyes, but her link told Kennedy she got the message.
Kennedy watched Cait walk towards where they estimated the edge of the radius to be. She took a moment to appreciate how well Cait’s outfit worked as a frame to that perfect ass. The emotion that conjured didn’t go unnoticed, and Cait threw a wink back over her shoulder before taking a step forward and disappearing.
Kennedy’s pulse sped up immediately, but her link with Cait hadn’t changed, and there was no distress coming through. Instead, a young voice yelped.
“H-hey! Don’t move! People have been getting really weird around me!” the kid said. Kennedy would guess the speaker to be maybe 15.
“Don’t worry bud, I’m Amaranthine, with AEGIS,” said Cait, her voice soft and low. Kennedy would have expected a little more panic from temporary blindness, but Cait did have an impressive kindness to her, maybe she was just putting on a brave face.
“Can.. can you see me?” the voice asked.
“Yeah! Good job getting a handle on your powers so quick!” Cait responded.
Wait, what?
The controller in front of the station had stopped moving, but no teenager had suddenly appeared. Cait herself was still invisible.
“Uh, I didn’t do anything?” the voice responded.
“Huh,” said Cait, and Kennedy felt a shrug through their link. “Welp, I’m immune to basically everything, guess that means you too. What’s your name, little guy?”
“K-kevin,” the kid stuttered. “Kevin Peach!”
“I’m gonna come over there Kevin, take my hand okay?”
It was odd hearing a conversation happen right in front of her, but be unable to see any of it. She felt a burst of warmth from Cait, and smiled to herself. She knew the big girl must be giving her best ‘dazzle ‘em’ grin to the kid. Kennedy would follow that smile anywhere, so hopefully it’d help the kid calm down.
“Sonder, stay linked up to me and come over. See if the immunity you get from me extends to this.” Cait called, and Kennedy complied. It felt like walking into a mirage, but she found she could see within the radius. However, it was like someone had smeared Vaseline on the lens of her life.
“Whoa, does it look like this to you too, Cait?” she asked, holding her hands out for balance. She could make out a thin lanky blonde haired form next to the hulking body of Cait.
“No idea what you’re talking about, so probably not? Why don’t you try linking up to Kevin, see if it cancels it out,” Cait suggested.
Unlike many Altereds, Kennedy was extremely hesitant to use her power, especially on people she didn’t know. Hers imparted a vulnerability she had learned to fear the hard way a long time ago.
That said, Cait’s steadfast presence in her mind helped immensely. She wasn’t sure if that was an extension of her invulnerability, or just an aspect of their growing bond and who Cait was as a person. Either way, Kennedy found herself dropping her link with Dawn and reaching out for the kid.
She felt his mind recoil at her touch, as was normal for first contact, but she was already sending reassurance, and found Cait was echoing the same. The kid opened up after a second. He was a mess of nerves and fear, but also some excitement. Everyone dreamed about getting superpowers after all, and Kennedy knew what she would have done with invisibility powers at 15.
16, I guess. 15 year old me would’ve used ‘em to murder my entire fucking family.
Along with the wave of new emotions, came a clearing of her vision, and a weird wail from Dawn.
“I cannot see!” Dawn exclaimed, and Kennedy looked over to see her start staggering around, arms out. Kennedy quickly dropped her link to Cait and reached out to reassure Dawn.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Peace, Dawn!” she called, sending it over her link as well. The deer lady stopped staggering about, but she did not like the blindness. “Back up until you’re out of the radius, then head to Breastman out front, looks like both Cait and I have some immunity here, we’ll handle this.”
She took another few seconds to guide Dawn out before turning back to Cait and the kid. She found Cait going through a bodybuilder posing routine to distract the kid, but every time the Amazon looked away his eyes were locked on her boobs.
Well, can’t really blame him, Kennedy smirked and strolled over, reestablishing her link with both.
“Okay! Probably enough of a show, Cait,” she said, patting the big woman on the shoulder. She smiled and held a hand out to the kid. “Kennedy Swan, or Sonder when I’m working. Like now, I guess!”
“Uh, Kevin. Kevin Peach.” He tore his eyes off Cait and accepted Kennedy’s hand tentatively. His hand shivered in her grasp. The kid was doing worse than he let on. She re-upped her mental comfort.
“Everything’s gonna be okay Kevin,” she said, keeping her smile warm. “I’ve got a little spiel I have to read to you, then we’ll go about getting you some support okay?”
“Okay.”
“Ahem, as a new Altered, with what I deem to be notable abilities, AEGIS needs to in-process you. This will not impart any requirement of duty onto yourself, save the requirement to undergo power counseling should your abilities be determined to be partially or entirely uncontrollable or inherently dangerous to the public. You will be granted access to all of AEGIS’ resources for new Altereds at no cost to yourself, although if you choose to take advantage of AEGIS provided lodging a labor payment will be assessed based on your aptitudes. Should you prove particularly potent, you will be offered entry into assessment for the Guardian program. As you are a minor, this path will not be open to you until you reach the age of 18. If your new abilities are unobtrusive, not remarkably powerful, and you do not wish to take advantage of AEGIS provided lodging, you will be able to return to civilian life shortly, provided you agree to periodic check-ins with your local AEGIS office. Again, as you are a minor, all decisions will have to be made with input from a parent or legal Guardian, although final say will be up to the regional AEGIS director.”
Kennedy took a breath, and winked at Kevin, who looked like his head was spinning.
“The directors my mom, and she’s pretty cool,” she said conspiratorially.
“Extremely accommodating, in my experience,” added Cait, earning another punch from Kennedy.
Okay, Lira’s idea to get mom involved might have been a fucking bad one. That girl never stops thinking with her clit. Helped with trust to begin with, but now…. kind of doing the opposite.
Kevin looked confusedly between the two women.
“So what’s next?” he asked.
“Well, we have to contact your… parents?” Kennedy made the last word a question, not knowing the kid’s situation.
“Parent, mom. I tried calling, but my phone gets no signal now,” he explained. Kennedy hissed in a breath. That was gonna suck for him. She gave him a tight smile.
“No worries! Give her number to Amaranthine, she’ll get out of our radius and call.” Cait looked at Kennedy with wide eyes, but all she got was her best non-verbal ‘buck the fuck up’.
“Our radius?” Kevin asked.
“Yep!” Kennedy answered cheerfully. She tapped her forehead, then his. “We’re linked up here, and that means I share some of your power! How much can you feel about what your Alteration is doing?”
“Fucking nothing!” Kevin half sobbed, some of the fear and frustration coming out. “People around me just started yelling about being blind, and my phone doesn’t work! Some fucking super-power!”
“Language,” said Cait with a smirk. Kevin whirled on her, eyes boggling with rage before he noticed her grin. Both of them started to giggle.
Christ, I’m in a throuple with a teenager.
“Amaranthine? His mom?”
“Oh, shit, yeah,” Cait responded, summoning her comm. Kevin’s eyes went wide as it swirled into existence, and Cait held it out for him to put her number in. “Hope she’s hot!”
“Fuck you!” Kevin chuckled swiping at Cait as she walked away.
And yet, she does have a way about her.
Kennedy realized both her and Kevin were watching her walk away, and she snapped her fingers in front of his face.
“Hey! Eyes off AEGIS merchandise,” she said, to a sassy eyebrow from Kevin. Kennedy felt her cheeks burn a bit. “Uh, while you’ve got me here, lets see if we can’t work on power control a bit.”
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked. “I’m not doing anything.”
“Yeah,” Kennedy nodded, “I can feel that. Looks like you’re defaulted to on. Doesn’t mean we can’t find a way to turn it off. I’ve got experience with a lot of different power sets, and even ones that do the same thing usually don’t work the same way. For example, it feels to me like I’m somehow rejecting ‘connection’ when I’m linked up to you. Visual, digital, radio, its like its bouncing off an area around me. Don’t feel bad about not noticing, I only did because I’ve got a friend who can sense that stuff more directly than we can. Well, not visual, but the rest.”
She took a breath, stopping her ramble.
“Anyway, lets try focusing really hard on letting something through. This is going to sound stupid, but try thinking about your phone, and opening a link between it and everything else. I’m going to have to drop my link, or I’d be blocking too and we won’t know if this worked.”
Kevin stared at her blankly. She honestly didn’t have a much better way to explain it offhand, so she just smiled encouragingly, and made a ‘go on!’ motion before she dropped her link and the world went black. She felt her pulse start to race as her brain made the conclusion she’d suddenly gone blind, but breathed deep and slow to calm herself down.
Kennedy waited in silence for a minute, before there was a gasp from next to her, followed by a disappointed sigh. She opened her link back up to Kevin and the world illuminated itself again.
“So?” she asked, she sensed disappointment from the kid, but that gasp had to have meant something.
“I got a bar!” he responded excitedly before sighing again. “But lost it as soon as I got excited.”
Kennedy pulsed excitement towards him.
“That’s great!” she exclaimed. “Really, that’s a huge deal. Trust me, a power like yours can definitely feel like more curse than blessing. But! If you can control it at all now, there’s plenty of hope you can control it completely with AEGIS’ support.”
She felt a seed of tentative, fledgling hope blossom in him, and a little bit of the barely restrained panic faded. He finally returned her smile with a hint of pride.
“She accepted a video call,” said Cait, walking up to the pair. She gave Kevin her cheekiest grin. “She is hot. Also on her way to AEGIS. I assume we’ll be dealing with her there?”
“Cait, if you hit on that woman in this situation, my mom is gonna have your ass.” Kennedy warned.
“What makes you think she hasn’t had it already?” Cait turned her grin on Kennedy. “But no, I’m a piece of shit, but I’m still human. She knows her son is alive and well, but in AEGIS care until his situation is quantified. Pete’s on gate duty, he’s expecting her.”
Kennedy glared at her, but gave a begrudging nod.
“Okay,” she said, turning her attention back to Kevin. “Now we have to figure out how to get you back to AEGIS without blinding every driver on the freeway.”
“I have thoughts on that!” Cait volunteered.
Her grin suddenly didn’t look so comforting.
Sci-fi ? Telepathy ? Psychics
The technocracy will fall. And my powers started it all. Oops.
I refused to die. The cost? Psychic powers, telepathy, and absurd secrets big enough to crack the technocracy.
Across 9 Galaxies, Talented awakened. Augments moved in the shadows. The truth won’t stay buried.
- Straight & queer romances. (No harem.)
- Seven-book interconnected series.
- Comedy Space Operas: .
- WLW Psychological Thrillerss: .