Unidentified Phenomenon

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  “No, it doesn’t work like that. We can only sense each other when we’re in range.”

  “When will you be in range?” Victor asked.

  Blake shrugged and gestured with exasperation. “I have no idea. You assume I know where he is right now, but I don’t. The power grows by the week, increasing its range every day. When we’re in range, we’re keenly aware of the other’s location, but if we’re out of range, I got nothing.”

  “Blake, I want to see Quinn in action. Please text him and…”

  “Ow!” Blake shouted, grabbing the side of his head with his right hand. He squatted as pain overtook him for a few seconds, holding his breath as the sensation abated. “Dammit, that really hurt.”

  “What?”

  “Quinn’s here. I sense him now, but it’s like, more powerful than the first time this happened. I thought this thing was getting easier to deal with.”

  “Where is he?” Victor asked, his eyes scanning the ground.

  Blake pointed, searching for the words that would describe his proximate location to Quinn. “He’s over there, no…up there…from your perspective, he’s on the roof over Starbucks, I think.”

  “My perspective?”

  “Yeah, Blake said, standing. “Trust me, my awareness of Quinn is nothing like you’re used to. It’s more than just seeing or hearing him, it’s like an…awareness of exactly where he is. I know where he is in my head, but until I can match his surroundings with my eyes to what I sense in my mind, I’m not sure how to tell you where he is…but he’s that way, and up.”

  “Flying?”

  “No, standing. Well, recovering from this.”

  “You’re aware of what he’s doing?”

  “Only when we first detect each other. Then it fades to background noise in my mind.” He decided not to share the exact workings of the sensing power with Victor.

  “Interesting.”

  “Not really. It’s actually our least favorite ability because it’s pretty annoying, to be honest.”

  They rounded the corner and Blake’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked for Quinn on the rooftop. He spotted him and smiled, knowing Quinn’s super vision would see him. “Hello?”

  “You have to be with Victor, don’t you?”

  “Uh, yeah…why are you calling me?”

  “I need your help. I can’t do this one on my own.”

  Blake’s face fell flat. “I don’t want to…”

  “Shut up and listen to me. The man has some kind of pressure-trigger-detonator thing in his hand and if he lets it go, his bomb-vest blows up and takes out all these stupid people who have no clue of what’s going on. But, he’s asked for Blue Spekter and the police have been backed into a corner. I intend to give him what he wants, but only if you’ll help me.”

  Blake glanced over at Victor, who regarded him with intense curiosity.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I need you to get close enough and look at the thing in his hand. Then I need you to grab it with your telekinesis and hold it exactly as he has it in his hand, so I can fly him up into the sky. I’ll get the vest off him and toss it into the ocean, so he can’t hurt anyone.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Blake said flatly.

  “Are you kidding…”

  Blake pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at Victor. “Quinn wants me to be his sidekick and hold the detonator in the man’s hand with my mind.”

  Victor’s face twisted with frustration and he shouted at Blake, forgetting he was in public. “You need to get over that right now. You’re not his sidekick, you’re his equal. Go work with him and save this city.”

  Blake blinked and brought the phone back to his ear. “Fine.”

  “Thank you. I don’t have that power yet. I need you, Blake.”

  “I’ll raise my hand when I have the device.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  Blake pocketed the phone and took a deep breath. Victor grinned like a child on Christmas day and folded his arms across his chest, his eyes blazing with curiosity as he watched Blake.

  “Watch him, not me. This part isn’t exciting.”

  Victor spun around and watched the roof where Quinn was standing, but he was gone. “Where’d he go?” Victor asked, surprised.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll see him. He’s making a grand entrance.” Blake stared at the device in the man’s hand. He could sense the spring and mechanisms holding the trigger down. If it really was the detonator, he would have to hold it in place without letting the springs release their tension. He pulled his dark sunglasses out of his jacket pocket and put them on to hide his glowing eyes, pulling his sweatshirt hood over his head and shoving his hands into his pockets.

  Then, he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, focused, and reached out.

  Crap. It’s got two triggers.

  Blake refocused his mind and sensed the triggers, one under the man’s thumb, the other his fingertips. He reached out and held the triggers in place.

  There’s no room for error, Blake.

  Then, he raised his left arm straight up over his head.

  A second later, people gasped and pointed into the air. The yelling man froze and looked up at the glowing blue man, eyes blazing, that soared up Congress Street, flying fifty-feet over the ground. Some of the police aimed their firearms at him, but Blake heard other officers tell them to stand down.

  “Tell me if I’m just getting in the way this time,” Blue Spekter said as he passed over Chief Applegate.

  “Blue Spekter,” the man yelled, but it was too late. Blue Spekter rapidly descended and landed in front of the man.

  “Hi. Time to go.” Then, faster than the man could speak, Blue Spekter grabbed the man in a bear hug and flew straight up into the sky, taking the man away from the city and out of Blake’s sense of proximity.

  Blake wasn’t able to watch because the detonator hovered three feet over the ground where the man once held it. Blake slowly brought it to the ground, hoping everyone’s eyes were focused upward on Blue Spekter and the man in the sky.

  Police approached the detonator device with caution, and Blake became nervous. If they get a hold of that…come on, Quinn…hurry up.

  Blake sensed Blue Spekter returning to the earth with the crazed man. People were cheering and applauding.

  “You can let it go,” Victor said.

  Blake relaxed as the police picked up the detonator. His super hearing detected a faint explosion, but it seemed miles away. He let out a sigh of relief and felt the power fade from behind his eyes.

  Blue Spekter brought the man down to the two officers who had picked up the detonator. The bystanders erupted into applause and cheers as Blue Spekter turned the crazy man over to the police.

  “I think this guy belongs to that thing,” Blue Spekter said, shoving the man to his knees. Blake smiled, realizing his buddy was finally getting the superhero’s welcome he always wanted.

  “Stop him!” Chief Applegate yelled.

  The police drew their weapons and aimed at the glowing blue man.

  “Whoa, guys, I just saved you and all these people.”

  “You’re under arrest,” Chief Applegate shouted.

  Bystanders began booing and hissing at the police, telling them to back off. Blake booed with them, hoping they would back off.

  Chief Applegate glared at the crowd and then back at Blue Spekter. She frowned and waved the police off, recognizing she had lost the upper hand.

  Blue Spekter ascended, hovering several feet above the ground. “I’m on your side, guys…I’ll never willingly hurt you or this city. You have my word.”

  Blake applauded with the crowd as Blue Spekter soared high over their head and disappeared from view. Grinning, he turned to Victor, who grabbed him by the shoulders and challenged him.

  “Everything you just saw could be yours on a much grander scale, but people won’t call you by some silly name and you won’t be anyone’s sidekic
k. You may never be known for the great work you’d do, but as part of my team…you’ll do more than just save lives from petty criminals. You’ll save people from themselves.”

  Blake nodded. “When do we start?”

  10 | Divergence

  Quinn

  “WELL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT seems the local community is once again stunned by the second appearance of the world’s first potential superhero, infamously dubbed the Blue Spekter. Although public opinion about the vigilante is generally positive, local authorities continue to issue stern warnings against vigilantism, urging the public to let trained personnel do what they do best. Reporting live from downtown Portsmouth, I’m Camilla Brenhurst.”

  The camera cut back to the newsroom, where news anchor Paula Anders introduced the next story. Quinn frowned at the mention of the police warnings.

  Quinn and his dads watched the morning news before school and work, eagerly switching between the local and national news to hear what they had to say about Blue Spekter’s appearance yesterday. All of the news outlets were blown away with the indescribable experience of seeing a flying, super-powered human. This morning, all of the larger news stations were bringing in various subject matter experts—and the larger comic book houses—to help them understand the pros and cons of such a being in the world today.

  “I still can’t believe I was there,” Quinn said, shaking his head, playing along with what he had already told his dads about his brief meeting with Keegan at the Market Square Starbucks.

  Dad swallowed. “I’m glad you had the sense to run as far away from that man as you could get. I can’t believe people were standing around gawking at him. Anyone with half a brain should have known that was an explosive vest on his body.”

  “Not everyone is as smart as you, hun,” Daddio said, winking at him from across the island. He plopped more eggs down on Quinn’s plate. “Eat up, track star, you look like you’re packing on muscle.”

  Quinn nodded. “Toning up, for sure.” He had noticed his muscular structure changing over the past several weeks when he saw his reflection in the mirror each morning. He noticed Blake’s muscles had grown as well, and like his, they had become more defined without doing any extra weight-lifting at school.

  “Track after school today?” Dad asked.

  “Nope, a little extra tutoring with Mr. St. Germain for chemistry. I’m getting lost and he offered to help.”

  Daddio smiled. “I’m really proud of you for seeking extra help. I mean, it’s not like we could help you with chemistry so…kudos to you for asking your teacher for more help.”

  Quinn smiled. If only knew new what he was really teaching me?

  ❖

  “Did you see what that blue guy did?” Ravone shouted as Quinn walked toward their usual before-school spot. “Were you working?”

  “I ran away,” Quinn answered, laughing. “I knew something was going on and I didn’t want to get caught up in it.” Then he remembered the lie he told Keegan. Damn, this is going to get tricky…

  “I had to meet up with my dad, so when I left Keegan…”

  “What? You were with Keegan? Do tell!” Loren said, clapping his hands with excitement.

  “Oh, yeah,” Quinn said, blushing. “Well, um…”

  “Out with it already,” Ravone ordered.

  “He asked me to the Homecoming Dance.”

  “And what did you say?” Loren asked.

  Quinn grinned from ear-to-ear. “I said ‘yes,’ silly.”

  “Finally, our boy is becoming comfortable in his own skin.”

  Quinn laughed with them, smiling at his newfound confidence. Maybe that’s a super power, too?

  The bell rang, indicating it was time to get to first period. “Have you guys seen Blake yet?” Ravone asked, anxiously looking around for him.

  I haven’t sensed him yet, and his bike isn’t locked up at the bike stand…

  “No, I haven’t,” Quinn answered. “It’s weird. Uh, why do ask?” Now, his interest was piqued.

  “Oh, nothing,” Ravone answered, winking and smiling at him mischievously.

  Quinn shook his head and decided it was better not to ask. You better not be getting sweet on him again.

  ❖

  “Remind me of what your goal is, Blue Spekter?” Mr. St. Germain said, grinning. He sat back in his desk chair and folded his arms across his chest.

  Quinn chuckled. They had shut themselves in the science lab after school to discuss what was going on in town, with the police, and with Blake.

  He shifted in the chair-desk he had pulled up to the front of his teacher’s desk. “Well I mean, I thought I wanted to be a superhero, and I…”

  Mr. St. Germain raised his hand and interrupted him. “Quinn, when we first spoke and you showed me how you could manipulate water, I didn’t need a super power to sense how excited you were at the prospect of becoming a superhero. I told you to be very careful about pursuing this path until we could learn a little more, so now that things are starting to happen, something’s changed. What’s changed for you? What’s getting in the way of your superhero dream?”

  “Reality,” Quinn answered without hesitation.

  “What about it?”

  “The people love me, but the police…I saved that man’s life when he fell from the tower. I saved all those people from a homemade shrapnel bomb in Market Square, and the police want me to stop interfering. People would have died and got hurt. Why can’t the police see that?”

  “They can see that, Quinn. They see everything you do, and possibly more. The difference is, they’re trained to think and respond to hostile and life-threatening situations. You aren’t. You have to think about it objectively; you reacted in both cases, just like you did with the toddler on Daniel Street.”

  Quinn swallowed. “Yeah, you don’t have to remind me about that one. That guy could have gotten hurt really bad.”

  Mr. St. Germain leaned forward. “Try to listen to what I’m about to say objectively. You need to hear the good and the bad about what you’re doing, even if you only think you’re doing good.”

  “Okay,” Quinn answered, frowning.

  “You’re right, no one got seriously hurt in all three events. The car you stopped—though a complete accident—could have gone in a different direction. If you had been one second slower at catching the falling man, would you be feeling the same way? If you weren’t able to get the man and his vest away from Market Square without the bomb going off, how many people would have gotten hurt—and would you even be alive? Do you know if you’re explosion proof?”

  Quinn sighed. “But…”

  “No buts, Quinn,” Mr. St. Germain said. “This is what is on the mind of the police and those trained to respond to crisis. I need you to try and see it from their point of view, because from where they sit, they now have a new, unpredictable element adding a lot of stress to their already stressful jobs.”

  “Okay,” he muttered, staring at the floor.

  “Look at me, Quinn.”

  Quinn looked up at his teacher.

  “Stay objective with me. They don’t know you, they have no idea who you are, what you stand for, and if you turn on them, whether they can stop you or not. They have no reason to trust you right now, and they have no idea there’s another super-powered person lurking in the shadows.”

  “You mean Blake?”

  Mr. St. Germain nodded. “Unless there’s someone else, yes. What do you think they’re going to do when they find out there’s two of you? Remember what Carmine Falcone told Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, ‘You always fear what you don’t understand.’”

  Quinn smiled. “Okay, okay, I get it. We have to be willing to work with the police rather than undermine them.”

  Mr. St. Germain shrugged. “That might work but be careful. If you get caught, make no mistake, they will dissect you to figure out what makes you tick and try to control you because they’re afraid of you—even if they seem to trust you. That’s how i
t always plays out in the comic books. So, be careful, until you’re sure you’re bulletproof or something…be smart, okay?”

  “I will.”

  “Good, because I can’t wait for the day when Blue Spekter is welcomed by everyone, even the police. Speaking of which…your alter ego is gonna need some kind of costume.”

  Quinn laughed. “I’ve been thinking about that myself.”

  ❖

  Blake

  The black SUV drove past the familiar white building at Orgonon to a stone house with blue trim set on the far side of a field he remembered seeing when he and Quinn snuck onto the property.

  “We’re here,” one of the men said, putting the vehicle into park.

  Blake stepped out of the black SUV, stretched his legs and back, and walked up to the front door of the house. His two escorts, men who remained nameless during the three-and-a-half-hour drive, provided idle conversation but they didn’t hold Blake’s interest for very long. To make matters worse, they opted to listen to news podcasts instead of music.

  If only I could fly…I’d have flown here so much faster.

  Victor opened the front door and greeted him. “Hello, Blake, welcome to Orgonon, officially.”

  “Hey,” Blake answered, shaking his hand.

  “This way, please.” Victor led him through the stone house-turned-museum to a room with wall-to-wall bookshelves.

  “You’re kidding me!” Blake asked, scanning the room quickly. There were no other points of egress. “One of these bookshelves hides a secret door, right?”

  Victor laughed. “Of course.”

  He pulled on an inconspicuous brown, leather-bound book and an entire section of bookshelf rumbled as it slid back and to the right, allowing access to a hidden elevator. The door slid open and Victor stepped inside.

  Blake, amused by the spectacle of the hidden passage way, followed him into the elevator. “I thought this stuff only happened in the movies.”

  The elevator doors slid shut and the car descended. “Sometimes, inspiration can be drawn from movies, Blake. After all, if something is hidden right under your nose, you tend not to see it.”

  “This is so cool.”