POWERLESS

by Antony W. F. Chow

  The hustler stared in shock at the peanut on the cardboard. There was no way the peanut should have been there. How could he have lost track? Finally, he noticed what the crowd was saying. He reluctantly reached into his pocket and dropped the ten. However, before the bet was taken off the cardboard, the hustler said, "I'll double it in the next game." He dropped a Benjamin on the table and shuffled the peanut shells again. This time he shuffled longer than usual and then stopped.

  The left shell was picked and again the peanut appeared on the table.

  The hustler knew something was wrong and immediately picked up the other shells. All three had peanuts! "You cheated, little runt!" he yelled.

  The boy grabbed the bills on the table and ran.

  * * *

  Schmendrick awoke with a hint of a smile on his face.

  "The class is starting again," Malkus said while shaking his arm. The clock on the stage had almost reached zero.

  Schmendrick wondered if the dream was a memory of his forgotten past. He pushed it aside when a green portal appeared on the stage and a black man walked through.

  The instructor looked around the classroom. He was glad that everyone was attentive to him now. "Okay, during the last lesson we learned a bit about the geography of the Sanctum. This next lesson will focus entirely on you." He started pointing fingers at the students. And then he tapped his skull. "Mentally think of the word, 'Menu.'" He posted another hologram. "You should see a screen like this in front of your face."

  The instructor waited until every student had a screen in front of him and then continued. "For some fucking reason I can't understand, this world treats us as if we're playing a game. And the screen in front of you is proof of that."

  Schmendrick looked at his player screen and it read:

  Name: Schmendrick

  Physical: 100

  Mental: 100

  Vitality: 100

  Aether: 100

  Level: 1

  Experience: 0/1,000

  Class:

  Skills:

  Power:

  "Each player starts at 100 points in Physical, Mental, Vitality, and Aether. Here's a quick rundown of each attribute. Physical represents your physical self--your strength, your stamina, your hardiness, your agility, etc. Mental represents your intelligence, your knowledge, your wisdom, your ability to learn, etc. Vitality is your lifespan; it represents how much damage you can absorb before dying and how quickly you can recover from damage. Aether is your ability to use magic. Before you shitheads mouth off again, yes I just said the word, 'magic.' Magic exists in this world and it is fueled by the amount of Aether that your body can generate. We'll talk about magic another time."

  "You may be stronger or weaker than the kid sitting next to you. That's not what the 100 points in Physical measures. It's not an absolute measurement of your personal strength against that of another person. Instead, think of the 100 points as a percentage of your natural abilities. It's a baseline. When you earn enough experience to reach the next level, you will receive 20 points to split among those attributes. Let's say you put those 20 points in Physical and your new total is 120 points. That means you are now 20% stronger than you were before. This may be enough for you to surpass someone who was originally stronger than you. Or it may not, depending on the original strength that you possess relative to the other person."

  "When you reach Level 5, you will be permitted to visit the Testing Center. At this location, you will be granted your Class and its accompanying Skills. If you're fortunate, you will also receive a Power. Those who receive a Power will move into the upper crust of our society. They will receive a game title called, 'The Gifted.' Those who don't receive a Power will continue to work toward reaching Level 10. At that time, you will be granted a second opportunity to visit the Testing Center. If you don't receive a Power at this time, you will be considered a Powerless and asked to live in the outer sectors of the city, in the Recovered Land."

  Schmendrick barely paid attention to the lecture. He was busy staring at the profile shot of his head; the picture was on the player screen, to the left of the stats. It was as if he was seeing himself for the first time: Black hair, smooth white skin, an average looking nose bordering two light blue colored eyes. He looked YOUNG, perhaps late-teens or early twenties. He couldn't tell because his buried memories included his age and birthday. He could only hope that more memories of his past life will return when he sleeps.

  "Now, you dipshits are probably wondering how you will get experience," the instructor continued. "After all, you got nothing but the uniform that you're wearing and a tiny dagger that you don't know how to use. Fortunately, the forefathers who built this city want to provide you with every opportunity to succeed--and survive. The Noob Academy will provide you with training, food, and shelter until you reach Level 5. At that point, you will graduate from the academy and, based on your Class, be assigned your proper role in our society. The Gifted will be gathered and provided a different path to walk." He paused for a moment to let his words sink in.

  "However, you shouldn't be in a rush to break through Level 5 because your room and board will be discontinued upon graduation. At that time, you will need to make your own arrangements. But rest assured that the system will help you make this transition."

  "Now, until you graduate from the Noob Academy, you're stuck with me. In addition to being your instructor, I will be your trainer and your quest giver. If you want to be a smartass and disobey me, that's fine. You'll land on my shit-list and get the shittiest quests I can offer. Believe me, there are assignments within the system that literally involve shit. So don't press your luck and piss me off," he warned.

  Malkus whistled softly.

  "Okay, you sat on your candy asses long enough. I want you to line up, in single file, in front of me. We're going to the gym," he announced.

  1.4 - The Noob Academy,

  Lesson 3

  The students quickly lined up in a row on the stage with Schmendrick and Malkus standing near the back of the line.

  The instructor typed into his keyboard and a green portal appeared on stage. "Enter," he ordered and the line started moving. When the last student walked through the portal, the instructor entered and closed the portal behind him.

  The students found themselves in another room. It was similar in size to the classroom. However, there was no stage, no desks, and no chairs. It was one big empty room.

  "Now, we have reached my favorite lesson: physical training. I need to see what you boys are made of. Here's my first quest: Run 50 laps around the room. Those who finish will receive 500 experience points. The first one to complete the assignment gets a bonus 1,000 points. Don't try to cheat and pretend you assholes ran the 50 laps. The system will keep track of your progress. This assignment will not be timed. I don't care if you take all day to finish it. Nor do I care if you have to crawl on your belly because you're out of shape. But I should warn you, though, that we won't proceed to the next lesson until all of you finish the assignment. Begin!" he yelled.

  The students started running toward the wall and then hugged it as they ran around the room. Some boys foolishly ran at their top speed while others wisely paced themselves.

  Malkus and Schmendrick stayed in the middle of the pack. Neither boy was winded by the pace.

  By the 20th lap, half the students had given up. They either sat or laid on the ground to catch their breaths.

  The two companions carefully avoided them while continuing their assignment.

  By the 49th lap, there were only 5 competitors remaining, including those two.

  "I'm going ahead," Malkus huffed.

  "Luck," Schmendrick huffed. He didn't care for the first place. Nor the unwanted attention that came along with it.

  Taking a deep breath, Malkus ran with all his remaining energy.

  Another boy matched his pace.

  Each competitor tried to outrun the other. But alas, Malkus stretched out his hand at the holograp
hic finish line and managed to touch it first. When Malkus won the race, he immediately bent over to regain his breath. The assignment took a lot out of him.

  "I'm Aggen," his competitor huffed and offered his hand.

  "Malkus," the winner replied and shook his hand.

  A minute later, Schmendrick crossed the finish line. "Let's sit in the middle of the room," he suggested. "I'm Schmendrick."

  "Aggen."

  Schmendrick studied the runner-up carefully. Aggen was the athletic type with a trim but muscular body which belonged in a fashion magazine ad. His light green eyes and combed over blonde hair accentuated his feminine looking face.

  Aggen was aware of the scrutiny but didn't care at all. Somehow, he knew that he drew plenty of attention in his old life. Instead, Aggen's attention was focused on the rest of his classmates and how to convince them to finish the 50 laps. It will probably take all day and night to pull it off.

  Soon, the trio was joined by the other 2 finishers, who were breathing hard. But to their credit, they managed to sit down without collapsing.

  Aggen pointed to himself and said, "Aggen."

  "Schmendrick."

  "Malkus."

  "Torre," said a short, raven-haired boy with dark brown skin.

  "Burns," added a tall, red-headed boy with freckles on his cheeks.

  Malkus nodded at each of them and then glanced at Schmendrick, who nodded back slightly. "Schmendrick and I are looking to form a group. We're not looking to do anything weird or kinky," he laughed and solicited laughter in return. "We just want to help each other out until we reach at least Level 5. After that, if we happen to decide to do the same things, great. Otherwise, we can go our separate ways," he proposed.

  "So we're watching each other's back until Level 5. I'm cool with that," Aggen agreed.

  Torre gave a thumbs up.

  Burns looked at the other four boys as he considered the offer. Running 50 laps was a good way to discover the cream of the crop. The five of them were it. Burns had no reason not to join this little clique. "Sounds reasonable. I'm in," he said.

  "So what are we gonna do now?" Aggen asked while looking at Malkus.

  Malkus looked at Schmendrick.

  Schmendrick finally spoke up. "Well, our wonderful instructor said all 12 of us have to finish the assignment in order for us to continue on with the next lesson. So our task is to play cheerleader and convince the rest of our mates to finish the 50 laps."

  Torre sucked his teeth. "That's gonna be tough. Some of these guys look way too soft. They were probably still sucking their mommies' tits when they died," he smirked.

  Burns threw up his hands. "What choice do we have?" he asked rhetorically.

  "Exactly," Schmendrick said. "If you guys haven't noticed, our instructor ain't here. And I suspect that he won't be back until everyone has done the 50 laps. In the absolute worst case scenario, we will stay in this gym and starve to death. I don't know about you guys but I don't want to be reborn only to die in this stinking gym. I think we're destined to do great things with our second chance at life. Failure is not an option."

  "Amen, brother," Malkus patted Schmendrick on the shoulder.

  Aggen rose to his feet. "Let's do it!" he yelled aloud, trying to generate some enthusiasm for this lousy task. He started walking toward one of the students still sitting on the ground.

  "Each of us should approach a different person," Torre suggested.

  Burns pointed a finger at Torre and said, "Good call." He reached his target first: a boy seemingly passed out on the floor. Burns leaned over and looked at his face. The boy had shortly cropped dark brown hair. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open. The boy was snoring! Burns became angry and kicked the boy in the arm.

  However, the sleeping boy didn't stir.

  "You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Burns said as he reached down and pulled the boy up by his hair!

  "Ah, ah!" The pain in his scalp immediately forced the boy awake. "What the fuck are you doing?" he complained.

  "Waking you up," Burns replied and finally released his hold.

  "Leave me alone, dickhead!" the boy replied.

  Burns immediately punched the boy in his fat guts.

  The boy rolled over on the floor, groaning in pain.

  Burns took a knee. He turned the boy onto his back and poked a finger at the boy's chest. "Listen up, dickhead. The instructor ain't around. He's not coming back until everyone in the class finish the 50 laps. I'm not staying even one goddamn second longer in this place because of you," he said while poking the boy roughly in the chest again. "Do you remember the place where we all woke up? There was a kid who took too long to choose his name. Remember him? Who's to say that the last boy in this room won't get whacked by lightning, too, if you know what I mean?"

  The boy felt a shudder down his spine as he recalled how the poor kid had burned to ashes. And then all trace of him was gone from the room. The fat kid immediately shot up to his feet and started jogging, leaving a grinning Burns behind.

  Burns turned and walked toward his next victim. By accident, he had stumbled upon a method to get the stupid kids to run. The wonderful part of this threat was that it was probably the truth.

  Torre overheard Burns' conversation and he was disgusted by the bullying tactics. Instead, Torre adopted a gentler touch to his own target. He sat down next to the other classmate and asked, "How many laps to go?"

  The boy was of average build and breathing heavily. He wiped the sweat hanging on his thick brows. "10." He pushed back his light brown hair, which had clung uncomfortably to his scalp.

  "Let's walk together," Torre proposed.

  The boy chuckled. "But you finished already," he pointed out.

  "True. But we're stuck here until everyone finishes all 50 laps. I think that dickhead of an instructor is trying to using this exercise to build teamwork," Torre shrugged.

  The other kid chuckled again. "And here I thought you were throwing me a pity party."

  "Nah, I'm not a party animal," Torre replied. He rose to his feet and offered his hand. "I'm Torre."

  "Pasir," the boy replied and accepted the assist. He walked slowly during the next lap, accompanied by Torre, to test his strength. Confident that he could finish the assignment, Pasir started jogging the rest of the way.

  The rest of the class was either encouraged, cajoled, or threatened into finishing the assignment. When the last student crossed the holographic finish line, a soundtrack of people clapping began to play on the loudspeaker. The hologram changed from "FINISH LINE" in red text over a yellow background to "CONGRATULATIONS!" in black lettering over orange.

  A green portal appeared and the instructor returned to the gym. "It took you 5 hours 42 minutes to finish the class assignment. Not the worst completion time," he admitted grudgingly. He pointed a finger at Malkus. "This guy completed the assignment first. His bonus 1,000 points will advance him to Level 2. The rest of you are halfway there. When Malkus is finished assigning his attribute points, we will head over to the shower and then cafeteria for a late lunch."

  "Done!" Malkus quickly replied. He decided to add all 20 points to Physical.

  The instructor entered the destination into his keyboard and a green portal opened before him. "Time to hit the showers, ladies."

  Malkus stepped through the portal and the rest of the class followed in an orderly fashion.

  1.5 - The Noob Academy,

  Lesson 4

  True to the instructor's words, the portal dumped the boys into a shower room. The instructor said, "There is a separate stall for each of you. You will remove your dirty clothes and dump it into a receptacle in the wall. Once the system confirms that your clothing has been removed, jet streams will hit your body from all sides. Then the air vents will activate to dry you off. So just pretend that you're a statue and you'll make it easy on yourself. Once you're dry, another panel will open with clothing for you to wear. When you're done, come back out and walk through the green portal.
You have 5 minutes. Run!"

  The students immediately ran toward the shower stalls.

  Schmendrick passed by many stalls and took an empty one at the very end. He took his time in removing his clothes and dumping them into the hole in the wall. He closed his eyes as a stream of lukewarm water splattered his body. He rubbed his right thumb and forefinger together and realized that there was some soap mixed into the water. The jet stream paused for two seconds and then hit him again. This time, his fingers confirmed his suspicion that it was only water hitting his body. The shower, if one could call it that, lasted only a minute. The air vents hummed softly as warm air blew across his bare skin. Schmendrick raised his arms so that his armpits will receive the benefit of the dryer. The soothing caress lasted but another minute and the air vents turned off with a loud "click!" Another panel opened, revealing his clothes inside. Schmendrick quickly put his clothes on and stepped out of the stall.

  He saw other classmates leave their own stalls at the same time. Schmendrick waited for Malkus. The two then waited for the rest of the group. When Torre, Burns, and Aggen joined them, the group entered the green portal together.

  The teenagers arrived at the cafeteria. It was approximately the size of a classroom. There were several elongated tables and benches in the room; there were six tables in all. On the walls were clear panels. Inside each panel was a meal on a platter. To the left and right of these panels were vending machines for drinks. And next to the machines were trash receptacles.

  Soothing music played on the loudspeaker for a moment and then stopped. "Welcome to the cafeteria," a metallic voice said. "You are allotted one meal and one drink. Please choose wisely."

  The students slowly investigated the offerings inside the panels. There were hamburgers or cheeseburgers with a side of fries; plain or specialty pizza topped with either meat or veggies; white or fried rice with chicken and broccoli, salmon, or curry beef stew; steamed vegetable with clear broth soup and bread. Each platter was placed on a tray and eating utensils and napkins were included as well.