


Powers

By

CSquared




Chapter 2:




I walked slowly, in order to turn up at the agreed time and not early, but I still failed. I sat down in front of Borders and waited. A ravishing redhead caught my eye, and I gazed at her. _'No, it couldn't be... could it?'_ I thought. I shook my head and grinned. _'Of course not. Why would someone like that be interested in me?'_ As I thought this, she turned her head my way, and looked surprised. She began to walk towards me.




"Hi, Charlie?" she said, tentatively. I blinked. "Yes. You must be Siobhan, right?" She smiled, and nodded. "You didn't see me, did you."

"I didn't know what you looked like. Doubt I'll forget it soon, though."

She giggled. "Oh, I'm not all that."

"Please don't tell me you honestly believe that... I don't think I've ever seen anyone as good-looking as you..."

She blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry." I said. "I'm embarrassing you again, aren't I." She shook her head and smiled. "Do you mind if we wait a few more minutes? My friend wanted to come and meet you too." I winced. "Depends on which friend it is..." I muttered. She heard me and grinned. "Don't worry, she *likes* you." I raised my eyebrow. "She?" I asked. "You'll see... oh! There she is! Emma! Over here!" she waved frantically, and a girl off in the distance waved back and jogged towards us.




She came up and wrapped Siobhan in a hug. I stared at her and blinked rapidly. "I stand corrected..." I breathed. Siobhan looked at me out of the corner of her eye, and smiled. Then she whispered to Emma, just loud enough for me to hear, "He thinks you're hot." For her part, Emma went bright pink. I grinned at them. Emma stood about half a head shorter than Siobhan, who in turn was about half a head shorter than me. In contrast to Siobhan's shining red hair, Emma's golden locks seemed to almost absorb the light, despite the fact that they was blinding. Both shone - hell, they were hot!




"Yeah..." I said, pushing my hands into my pockets. "So what did you want to do?" Siobhan shrugged. "I dunno... just hang out and get to know you, I suppose." "Fancy a Shakeaway?" I suggested, and they both nodded in eager agreement. "Well then..." I said, stepping around between them and hooking their arms through mine. "Come, sisters - you are invited!"




Shakeaway was a truly wonderful invention. A shop, not ten feet by fifteen, where you walk in and order any combination of flavours you can imagine, which they will then throw into a blender and make a milkshake of. No wonder the queues usually stretch outside of the premises. I treated the girls to a drink, and we then started wandering aimlessly around. Siobhan was doing all the talking, so I looked pointedly at Emma and said, "Don't talk much, do ya." She looked at me and pouted. "C'mon now," I grinned, "I'm not taking no for an answer. Tell me something about yourself. And you stay out of this, big-nose." I said, pointing at Siobhan. She gasped, and put her hands on her hips in a mock huff. I smiled at her and her decidedly non-big nose, then looked back at Emma. "Let's see. What year are you in?" She resisted, but I did a Spock-eyebrow at her and she gave in. "Year Eight." she sighed. I smiled. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it. So that puts you two years below me, right? Hmm, what else... how did you meet Siobhan?"

"I've known her all my life. She was the first person other than the doctors to hold me."

"How's that work?"

"She was sitting on the bed with my Mum when they brought me in, and handed me to her first."

"Well, how about that. Any brothers or sisters?"

"Yeah, one sister and one brother."

"Older or younger?"

"Both younger, brother younger than sister."




It seemed that once the floodgates were opened, there was no going back. Not that I was complaining, Emma turned out to be a very enjoyable person. Over the course of the next twenty minutes, I found that she lived with her Dad and brother, her sister lived with her Mum, she drew "manga" for a living ("Hentai." Siobhan interjected at that point), and had lived, among other places, in Hong Kong, Japan and Madeira. A few minutes later, I suddenly realised where we were. "Oh." I said. "This is the Lewes Road. My house is just along this way. You both want to come see the den of horrors I call a bedroom?" They looked at each other, and shrugged. "OK." they said, almost as one.




We filed up the stairs to my room, and flopped on various soft surfaces. "Well, this is it..." I said. "Whaddaya think?" Siobhan looked around. "Oh. My. God. I love you." she gasped, pointing at the giant red flag covering one wall. I grinned. "Da, tovarisch." Emma gasped and pointed at a different area of the room. "You have anime!" she squeaked, rushing over to my video collection. I nodded. "Yuh-huh." I replied. "Lessee, I got... Akira, Blue Submarine Six... Battle Angel Alita... The Guyver, Metropolis... I've got some more somewhere." "Ohhh, can we watch it? Can we can we can we?!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down. I grinned. "Heh, yeah. Why not. Whaddaya wanna watch?




I slid her choice into the machine, and watched in glee as the distinctive "expanding white ball in a city" beginning played. "I love this movie." I said. I slumped onto the bed, where Siobhan and Emma had already curled up together, and leant on them. We watched the film in relative silence, me occasionally piping up with comments on the physics, and Emma on the art. Siobhan just watched with an odd smile on her face. After it was done, I looked up at the clock. "Urgh." I groaned. "It's already eight o'clock... looks like they're not gonna make any dinner tonight. Hey, you wanna stay for dinner? I'll make something." Emma sighed. "I can't... I have to go home..."

"Aw, really? Where do you live, I'll walk you."

"Ohh, no! No, don't do that, it's not far! I'll be fine!"

"No, let him, Emma." Siobhan said. "Oh, and Charlie? I'd love to stay for dinner, if that's alright with you, that is..."

"Of course it is. You wanna come with, or are you good staying here? You can boot up the computer, if you want."

"I'll stay here. You two have fun, now."

Emma looked at her from between slitted eyes as the corner of her mouth crawled upwards. "God, Siobhan, he's only walking me home, you know..." Siobhan grinned at her, and I looked from one to the other. _'There must be something going on here I don't know about...'_ I thought. _'Ah well... I'm not complaining!'_ "You coming, then, Emma?" I asked, and she nodded. "See you, Siobhan!" she called, cheerily, as she bounded down the stairs ahead of me. I chuckled, called goodbye, and followed her.




*****************************************




Emma turned out to live about ten minutes away, in a little yellow terraced house in Hollingdean - which, while not a sink estate like its nearby neighbour Hollingbury, wasn't particularly upmarket. Of course, it didn't necessarily mean she was poor - she certainly didn't look it, or act it - she insisted on trying to pay for everything when we had been out. Upon query, I was told, "Oh, it's all we can afford at the moment - Dad's on disability benefits, because he has a back problem." I nodded, and made "Ah" noises. She giggled. "Look," she said, looking down at her feet, "thanks for a nice day - it brought me out of the slump school put me in." I smiled. "Hey, you've got Siobhan to thank for that - it was her idea. I didn't know either of you before today... but I could swear I've seen you around. Probably at school, right?" "Yeah, probably... but still, thanks." she replied, and seemingly on impulse, she leaned forward and gave me a quick peck on the cheek, before rushing indoors and calling goodbye over her shoulder.




I stood looking at the closed door for a moment, not exactly sure what to think, before smiling, shaking my head and heading home. I got in to find Siobhan sprawled on the sofa in the front room, watching TV. "She get home alright?" she asked. I nodded, and replied, "Yeah, she's fine. Whatcha fancy for dinner?" She shrugged. "No idea. Surprise me." I raised an eyebrow, and said, "Well, OK - but be prepared for the worst."




Looking through the fridge, I spied some salmon steaks. "Hey, you like fish?" I called, and Siobhan replied in the affirmative without even looking away from the screen. "Rice, too?" I asked, and got another yes. Checking the sell-by date on the fish, I noticed they had to be eaten today. 'Well... they're not gonna use them, are they.' I thought, and pulled them from the fridge. While the water for the rice was boiling, and the frying pan was getting hot, I sorted out some utensils. Two bowls, two small plates and two pairs of chopsticks found their way onto the worktop.




About ten minutes later, I emerged from the kitchen with a huge bowl of steaming white rice, and two chunks of salmon each. As Siobhan sat down, I spooned her out some rice. "Hope you're hungry." I grinned, "And can use chopsticks." She responded in kind, and said, "That's a yes on both counts." Sitting down, I tipped some soy sauce over my rice, and got stuck in. "Mmm, this is really good!" Siobhan exclaimed, a few moments later. I smiled. "Thanks." I said. "It's not much, really..."

"No, really. It's good. You'll make someone a fine boyfriend."

"Heh, right. Anyhow. Hey, what's your situation at home? Where do you live?"

"Well, my parents are still together, but I don't actually live with them. They travel a lot, for work and things like that, so my sister and I live alone."

"Oh, you have a sister? How old is she?"

"She's my identical twin."

"You're kidding, right? There can't possibly be two of you. The universe would implode."

"Aw, you're sweet. No, I'm not kidding. Her name's Molly."

"Molly Molloy? How many times have you sung 'In Dublin's fair city...' at her?"

She giggled. "Quite a few, I must admit." She looked up at the clock. "Gyah! I hadn't realised it was so late! I've gotta get going..."




I looked up. It was already half ten. "How far away do you live?" I asked. She looked sheepish. "About an hour and a half's walk away..." she mumbled. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Fuck that." I said, matter-of-factly. "You're staying here." She stared at me. "But wouldn't your parents worry about a girl staying the night?" she asked. I just looked at her. "Excuse me? This is *me* you're talking to, remember..." She laughed. "OK, OK. I'd love to stay. Have you got a spare room?" I nodded, and led her upstairs.




*****************************************




The alarm blasted, and I woke up with a start. _'So much for another good dream...'_ I thought. I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed. _'Oh!' I suddenly remembered. _'Yeah! I need to wake up Siobhan!'_ I stepped out of my room, and slowly opened the door to the spare room. Siobhan was still asleep, alright, but... oh, what a sight! She'd kicked the covers off the bed in the night, and was strewn across the bed, wearing only her panties! I gasped, and stared for a moment. She had truly magnificent tits, about a C-cup (I think...) and *I could see them!* I suddenly caught myself, and tore my gaze away. I grabbed ahold of the covers and laid them over her, then shook her shoulder. She woke up groggily, and looked at me through a haze of sleep. "Gnn... Charlie? 's it morning already?" I nodded. "Time to get up." I replied. I turned to leave, and said, "Oh, by the way... nice boobs." I could almost feel the amused shock as I left.




I got downstairs, and set out a couple of bowls and spoons, then sat down to a nice big bowl of Shreddies. Siobhan made it down a few minutes later, her hair looking somewhat like an explosion in a mattress factory. I told her as much, and she giggled. "Yeah," she said, "I'm a restless sleeper." She sat down, and poured herself a bowlful. Then she just looked at me for a moment. I cringed slightly, feeling a little self-conscious. "Whaaaat?" I asked, looking at her with puppy-dog eyes. She smiled softly, and said, simply, "Thanks." I raised an eyebrow. "What on Earth for?" I asked. "I know what kind of a state I must have been in when you came in, it's always the same. Thanks for pulling the covers over me. That was nice of you." she said, her smile never faltering. I laughed gently. "Well, I could hardly leave you like that, now could I? It wouldn't have been right." She nodded, and turned to her cereal. "I know. That's why it was so nice."

"What, you'd hang around with people who wouldn't do that?"

"I do. Frequently."

"I suppose it *was* too much to hope that I'd be the first person to see your boobs..." I said, with a grin. She laughed, and playfully back-handed my shoulder.




The rest of breakfast passed without much conversation, and the walk to school without anything important. When we got there, we parted ways - she walking over to her friends, I waiting for some of mine to turn up. As she and her friends turned to walk away, I heard Karen's rather shrill voice exclaiming, "What the *hell* were you doing with him?!" I winced. I'd got her in a little trouble there. Terry turned up, and we headed towards form, chatting a little. First lesson was English, and I was uncomfortably aware of Karen staring malevolently at me. I tilted my head slightly at her, and said to Terry, "I think I hear the rumour mill grinding." He looked at me in confusion, and asked, "Why, what did you do?" I recounted the events of the previous night to him, and he still looked confused. "What's so bad about that? You weren't even in the same room."

"You know that, and I know that - but can you imagine what *she* might make out of it?"




He winced, and patted me on the shoulder. "Methinks you're in for some shit today, bud." Turns out he was right. On the way to Physics, which was second, a hand grabbed my arm and span me around. Daniel Tyler stood before me, a murderous look in his eyes. This chav was built like a brick shithouse. He stood a full head over me, which was some feat, I was almost 6' tall. He was about twice as wide, and looked like he'd do better in America playing their travesty to the name of rugby. These, however, were not thoughts that were running through my mind. What *was* occupying my thoughts were things such as, _'How the *fuck* do I get out of this one?'_




"You're in big fuckin' trouble." he grunted. "You're gonna pay for what you did to Siobhan." I closed my eyes briefly and slumped a little. Sighing loudly, I replied, "Look, Danny-boy, I'm really not in the mood for any Dryson-related *shit* today. I was in somewhat of a good mood until you popped up. So, if you'll excuse me..." I turned to leave, which was what saved my nose. I saw it a split second before it hit me. His right fist slammed, hard, into my left cheek. Part of my mind said, _'Turn the other.'_ The dominant part said, _'Fuck that for a game of soldiers.'_ Before I even knew what I was doing, I pulled myself out of the stumble I was in, swivelled on my hip, and buried my right fist in his throat. He choked violently, and fell backwards, clutching at his neck. He ended up sat on the floor, coughing and hacking into a rapidly growing puddle of spit between his outstretched legs.




Naturally, the powers that be chose that moment to turn up. I was hustled off to the deputy head's office while Dan was sent to the medical room. No care was taken of my bleeding lip, I notice. I stood, refusing to sit down, while the deputy head, Mr Orrells, bellowed at me. "What the *hell* do you think you were doing?!" he yelled. "I expected better of *you*!" I glared at him, and calmly replied, "Then maybe you should have a little more faith in me. *He* swung the first punch, you know." This seemed to rile him up even more. "Then you should have walked away!" he shouted. I laughed. Not a humourous laugh. "And open myself up for a blindside? Hardly. Not my style. I would have just stared him down, but it was instinctive - I didn't realise what I'd done 'til he was on the floor."




That seemed to placate him a little. He ummed, ahhed and ahemed for a while, then said, "Look, off you go. Get to your lesson. Uh, get the nurse to have a look at that lip before you go." I turned and walked out. As I left, I muttered, "Only if that Neanderthal is gone..." He was, and the nurse did her usual and gave me a few icecubes wrapped in those industrial green paper towels that are so ubiquitous in schools. It was a long-running joke among me and my friends. "Miss, I broke my arm." "Here, have some ice." "Miss, I have a headache." "Here, have some ice." "Miss, I have frostbite." "Here, have some ice." Things like that.




I made it to Physics only a little late, and walked in. Everyone looked at me. Mr Graves, the teacher, opened his eyes wide in surprise. "My goodness, what happened to your lip?" he asked. I grinned. "Oh, a little run-in with a caveman. Nothing serious. Sorry I'm late." He waved me to my seat, and I sat down. "Methinks the shit hath hitteth the fan. Eth." Terry said, grinning. I grinned back, and zoned out a little as the lesson commenced.




Break came next. I stood in my usual place, talking to my friends. Suddenly, I saw Siobhan run crying out of the building behind me and towards the one containing the toilets. I considered running after her until I saw Karen following her, looking mightily pissed off. I still wanted to run after her, but I wasn't up to putting up with Karen's crap. Break ended, and maths passed uneventfully. Lunch was where it all kicked off. I sat down in the canteen. My friends had yet to join me, when there was suddenly a crash opposite me. I looked under the table, and saw a tear-stained Siobhan looking up at me with a pleading look. She held her finger to her lips, and then I found out why. Karen and her cronies came round the corner. They were backed by Dan, and two of *his* cohorts, Will Fields and Mike Burnett. I closed my eyes and groaned. I wasn't getting out of this one.




Karen caught sight of me. "You!" she shouted. "Where is she?!" I rolled my eyes, and looked round at her. "Oh, Karen, what a lovely surprise." I deadpanned. "Whom might you be looking for, oh succubus queen?" She glared at me, and snapped, "You know very well who! Your *whore*, Siobhan!" I pulled an innocent look. "Why, Karen, whatever made you think I'd know where she was?" I stood up, and stepped to behind my chair, pushing it in. "And even if I did, what chance do you think you have of making me tell you?" She smiled a tight-lipped smile. "Because if you don't..." she slimed, and motioned at the giants, who cracked their knuckles. I smiled. "Now now, Karen. Getting people beaten up these days, are we? And you three, I had no idea you were so easily manipulated... oh, wait, sorry - I forgot. Your brains are in your groins, aren't they. So, how much sex did you promise them so they'd do this, Karen? I mean, I'm not exactly despised in this school... although I get the feeling from the looks on all of your faces that I will be sometime soon."




Dan, Will and Mike's eyes had darkened, and I could almost feel the daggers coming from their eyes. "Last chance, pipsqueak." Dan growled at me. "Tell Karen where she is, and I won't hurt you too bad." "Aw, Danny-boy. Not that I doubt your integrity, but weren't you the one defending dear, sweet young Siobhan's good name earlier? Boy, do you change your tune quickly. As such, I don't hold a whole lot of faith in your promise to 'not hurt me too bad.' Do your worst, you baboon."




I wasn't going to be caught unawares this time - I set up their minds to directly transmit what they were about to do to mine. I'd always be a step ahead of them. We had quite an audience by this point. _'Good.'_ I thought. _'Lots of witnesses.'_ Surprise surprise, Dan was the first to make a move, a long punch that threw him utterly off balance. I sidestepped it easily and stuck my foot out, sending him crashing to the floor. Now, I was a step ahead of them, but that didn't necessarily mean I was fast enough to use that advantage. Will and Mike grabbed an arm each and held me solid while Dan clambered back to his feet. "That was a cheap shot you got earlier." he growled at me as he stood in front of me. I laughed. "Hardly. I think yours qualified as such much more than mine. Mine was more skilful than chea...ughh!" I doubled over as he slammed his fist into my stomach. I was ready for it, but it still knocked the wind out of me. I lifted my head and glared at him. "That," I said, murder in my voice, "was a mistake." Will and Mike had made the mistake of letting their grip on my arms slacken a little. I grabbed ahold of their genitals and squeezed. Hard. When they let go of me in shock and pain, I whipped my hands upwards and backhanded both of them in the nose, throwing them back on their arses. I then proceeded to spin-kick Dan so hard that he flew over the table and hit his head on a chair on the other side.




All three of them struggled to their feet and ran off, their tails between their legs. Karen and her cohorts were long gone. Breathing heavily, I slumped into a chair. Everyone who had been watching broke into raucous applause, and Siobhan climbed out from hiding. "Oh, God, Charlie..." she whimpered. "You didn't have to do that for me..." I waved everyone away, and replied, "Sure, 'course I didn't. After seeing how she made you cry at break, and, obviously, now," I motioned at her red eyes and tear-stained cheeks, "obviously I'd just tell her exactly where you were on threat of physical violence. Nope, I can handle myself. I'm quite happy to take out goons like them for a friend." At that point, Terry, Andy Callahan, Josh Lee and Darren Parker turned up. "Woah, you look rough." Andy remarked. "What happened?" I groaned. "Don't tell me you guys missed my moment of glory... this seems to be my day for fights. No doubt some member of senior staff will be along in a minute, blaming me for the whole thing... anyhow. This is Siobhan. She used to be friends with Karen, but I doubt she will be after this."




Andy laughed at me. "Karen beat you up?" he grinned. I shook my head. "Nope. Dan Tyler, Will Fields and Mike Burnett. 'course, I dealt with them alright." His eyes opened wide in surprise. "You..." he said, "...dealt with them? Do you mean what I think you mean?" I nodded. "Why?" he asked. "Because they attacked me, you idiot. Why else?" I laughed.

"No, I mean why did they attack you?"

"Karen told them to."

"Why?"

"She wanted to know where Siobhan was, and I refused point-blank to tell her. Threw a few insults in with it. I think I did a pretty good job of it."

"Dude, you just bought yourself a whole load of trouble."

"Like I care? I think I just fairly effectively demonstrated that I can take care of myself."




Right then, Mr Orrells appeared. And he did *not* look happy. I groaned, and rolled my eyes. "Well, guys, see you around. That is, if I survive." I stood up, and was led off. Siobhan hesitated a moment, then followed.




*****************************************




I stepped from Mr Orrells' office at the end of lunch, to find Siobhan waiting for me. She'd been standing there for nearly an hour. "Woah, Siobhan." I said. "You didn't have to wait here for me. You should have gone to have lunch." She shook her head. "I didn't want to. I wanted to be here when you came out. I wanted to find out what defending me cost you." I laughed gently. "Aw, it was cheap at the price." I grinned. "Only four senior detentions - nothing." She gasped. "But, but... that's four hours! You shouldn't have to stay behind for four hours for something that isn't your fault!"

"I really don't care, you know."

"But I do..."

"Don't. Please. It was worth it. Look, let me walk you to your next class."

"You'll be late for yours."

"It's Biology. Like I give a shit."

"I... OK."




I saw her to her classroom, then waved goodbye and headed for mine. The rest of the day was relatively uneventful, and I barely noticed the time slipping away. Soon it was the end of the day, and I went to sign in. When I left my formroom, Emma was standing there to meet me. "Hi!" she chirped. "Siobhan asked me to collect you. Come with me." I laughed, and followed her. We stood and waited outside of Siobhan's formroom for her to get out - she was shortly preceded by Will Fields, who very pointedly avoided eye contact with me and shuffled away. I grinned. "I seem to have put the wind up them." I said. Emma laughed. Siobhan appeared, and we walked away.




Separately, the wind I had most certainly put up them. Together? I'd barely even puffed at them. Which I discovered on the way home. I was a little way ahead of Siobhan and Emma, as we were walking along a narrow pavement, so the first thing I noticed was that they suddenly weren't there anymore. The thing which alerted me to it was the muffled yells coming from behind me. I turned, and found Karen, Shahn and two of their underlings that I vaguely recognised holding an arm each. Karen and Shahn each had a hand over Siobhan and Emma's mouths. I raised an angry eyebrow, and was about to free them when my own arms were grabbed, and twisted behind me painfully. _'Oh no.'_ I thought. _'How do they manage to keep sneaking up on me like this?'_ Dan stepped in front of me. "I'm not going to forget what you did this lunchtime, you know." he growled at me, and buried his fist in my stomach. I doubled over. To their credit, Will and Mike had learnt from their prior mistake, and continued to hold me tightly. Dan went to town on me, and by the time he was finished, I was sporting a good sized black eye, my glasses were severely bent, my lip had reopened and was bleeding profusely, there was a fairly steady flow of blood coming from my nose, and it felt like something inside me had ruptured. It hadn't, of course, I knew that from reading my body's automatic damage reports - but it still felt like it.




Dan decided I'd had enough, and signalled for his two apes to release me. I dropped to my knees, and coughed and spat blood onto the pavement. I lifted my head slowly and glared at him, and forcibly smashed my way into his direct motor control. With a *very* surprised and scared look on his face, Dan began walking. Into the busy main road. I'd also seized control of the mind of the next driver to come along, so they drove directly into Dan, throwing him over the roof and speeding away. They never even knew they'd done it. Everyone was staring at Dan, lying in the road. I climbed painfully to my feet. I looked Will and Mike directly in the eyes. "I made him do that, you bastards." I said, loud enough for them to hear, but not any of the girls. "If you *ever* come after me again, I'll do worse to you." They obviously believed me, because they gazed at me in horror, backed away slowly, then turned and ran, turning down the first road they found.




I spun on my heel and glared at Karen, Shahn and their groupies. They looked at me, then at each other. They came to the right conclusion, let go of Emma and Siobhan, and walked away. The girls rushed up to me, and started fussing about. "Ow." I said, spitting out more blood. "Pain. Not used to this." I flopped myself against a garden wall, and Siobhan and Emma started whispering to each other. I ignored them, and slipped inwards to fully appreciate the extent of the damage I'd sustained. A full, 3D map of my body appeared in front of my mind's eye, with the hurt areas marked in red. Obviously, there was my eye. I hadn't noticed that the bridge of my glasses had cut the bridge of my nose when it was brought into violent contact with it. The lip was obvious, but was already closing, and had stopped bleeding for the most part. My nose, thankfully, wasn't broken, but it was refusing to stop bleeding. On autopilot, I pulled a wodge of tissues from my pocket and held them up to my face. I finally discovered what the ruptured feeling was - I had a bruised rib, and one of my kidneys had taken a hit. These, combined, felt like a split every time I moved my chest. There wasn't any lasting harm, however, so I let it go.




Sliding back out into the real world, I was amazed by the change of scenery. An ambulance and two police cars had appeared. There was a policeman waiting none-too-patiently to speak to me, and a paramedic was fussing about trying to assess the damage to my face. I blinked a few times, and shook my head "to clear it". "Woah, I'm sorry." I said. "I spaced out there for a while, how long have you all been here?" "They've been here about ten minutes, Charlie." said a voice beside me. I nearly leapt out of my skin, until I realised it was Emma. Sitting on the wall next to me. Holding my hand. Siobhan was talking to another policeman a way away. "Wow, I was out that long?" I mused. The policeman coughed. "Sir, if we could just get a short statement out of you, we can all be on our way." he said, his frustration plainly showing. I nodded. My nose had stopped bleeding, so I pulled the tissues from my face. "Right, sir, well, what we really need to know is what happened here? We've got reports from various witnesses in the houses that just don't seem to make sense, so we'd like to get your opinion. The one thing they were all sure on was the fact that you were not to blame, however."




"Oh good." I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "Wouldn't want to get in trouble for beating myself up, now would I." He did *not* look pleased. "Well, what did everyone else say?" I asked. He harumphed, and flipped back a few pages in his notebook. "Everyone is convinced that two men grabbed you while the third attacked. The third man then walked directly into the path of oncoming traffic, which did not stop." I nodded. "That's pretty much what happened."

"So this man, after attacking you, decided, of his own volition, to step in front of moving traffic?"

"Yes. At least, as far as I know - what do you think I am, a mind reader?"




I smiled inwardly - if he only knew. "Look," I said, "I can't really help you much. I can give you the names of the people who were here, and I have plenty of proof to show that they did, in fact, attack me. But as to why Danny-boy got himself run down, I haven't the foggiest. Now, I'm in quite a lot of pain, would you mind if I took my leave now?" The policeman was somewhat taken aback, evidently unaccustomed to outbursts like my own. He nodded, turned, and walked away. Siobhan turned up, gave a cryptic nod to Emma, and took hold of my arm. The pair then lifted me up, slipped themselves underneath my arms, and proceeded to help me to walk. I laughed. "Girls, I'm quite capable of walking under my own power. They didn't hurt my legs." Siobhan shrugged. "Fair enough." she replied, and took my hand in hers instead. Emma mirrored this action, and I found myself flanked by two pretty girls, being led somewhere. I grinned. I wasn't complaining.




*****************************************




We soon turned up at a fairly large house. It seemed to be somewhat of a Tardis, because once inside it was a lot bigger than it looked from the outside. Siobhan opened the door, and wandered inside while Emma and I lagged behind, taking our shoes off. She poked her head round the door into the front room and made an indignant noise. She span on her heel and stormed upstairs, shouting, "Molly! You didn't clear up!" I looked through the door - the room was a tip. Looking into other rooms, the state was much the same. Siobhan came running down the stairs, pursued by several flying objects - only it wasn't Siobhan. Siobhan followed soon after, and sent a well-aimed stuffed toy colliding with the back of the head of her doppelganger. A shocked look overcame the duplicate's face, and she pitched forward in a very anime-esque manner. After a few moments, she looked up. "Hey, Emma." she said, grinning sheepishly. "Hey, Molly." Emma replied. "Party night last night?" Molly chuckled softly and rubbed the back of her neck. "This is Charlie, by the way." Emma said, pointing to me. I extended my hand, but Siobhan slapped it down. "Be careful, she'll have it off you in the blink of an eye." she grinned, while Molly pouted.




Siobhan sent Molly off to clear up, and we three traipsed up to her room. It was *huge*. It contained one of the biggest beds I'd ever seen ("King size." Siobhan proclaimed proudly), and that only took up about a quarter of the overall size of the room. There was a massive desk in one corner, adorned with two monitors. There were no other signs of computer equipment. I pointed at it, and asked where the rest of it was. She smiled, walked over to the desk, and pressed a hidden button on the underside of the top. “Watch.” she said, as she did this. The green faux-leather writing area began to slide towards the back of the desk, much like a conveyor belt. It slid under the far edge of the wood, where I imagined it rolled into a... well, a roll. From beneath this, three thin metal panels slid into receptacles in the wood. From one, a fairly standard keyboard lifted and inclined. From the roughly square one next to it raised what appeared to be a graphics tablet. The third, easily the largest, was above both of these, and was almost the whole width of the writing area. From beneath this came a control panel. It was adorned with various dials, switches and toggles. None of them were marked.




I gaped. “I was going to ask why the monitors weren't incorporated into the desk, but I figure it's because you ran out of money.” I breathed, incredulous. Siobhan nodded, grinning at my reaction. “Can... can I touch it?” I asked. “Sure.” She replied. “You want I should turn it on for you?” “No!” I shouted, much louder than I intended. “No... I want to work it out myself. Is there a way to see the wiring on the back of this panel?”

“Yeah. Flick that top left switch and it rotates around the middle. When you're done, turn it manually about halfway, and then the servos take over.”




I flicked the switch, and the panel spun smoothly around its central horizontal axis. I studied the wiring and connections on the back - which were *very* well done - for a while, then turned it back over. The servos did indeed take over, and turned it back to its original position. This was heralded by the rather loud mechanical click of the switch returning to its neutral position. “Think you've got it, then, Sherlock?” Siobhan teased, grinning. I turned to face her, and smiled smugly. “Of course I've got it. Tell you what...” As I spoke, I wrote something on a piece of paper, folded it, and handed it to Emma. “...you turn it on, and then read what I wrote.” Siobhan raised her eyebrows, smiled, and pressed a small, inconspicuous button next to a large dial. With a soft whirr, the computer (which seemed to be built into the right hand section of the desk) flashed into life, the dials and lights coating the panel spinning and flickering. “Now,” Siobhan said, obviously expecting me to be wrong, “let's see what you wrote on here.” She unfolded the paper, and read it. As she did, her face fell. “You... even got the purpose of the dial next to it right.” She handed it to Emma, and sat down in somewhat of a daze. Emma read it aloud. “The small black button next to the dial that shows the input voltage to the CPU.” She looked at me. “Wow. How'd you know that?”




I smiled. “Trade secret, my dear.” I'd known which switch to press, and that the dial was a modified voltmeter, but not what it measured - so I'd gently poked my way into Siobhan's head to find out. Not that she had to know that. Interestingly, her mind had felt quite different to almost everyone else I'd ever read. It had been... warm, somehow, and comforting. Just for comparison, I nosed my way into Emma's head. She was also different, in more than one way. Her mind felt similar to Siobhan's, but - and this was, so far, unique to her - she seemed to notice my intrusion. She winced a little, more like she was deep in thought than in pain, but I quickly pulled out. She stopped wincing, and smiled. I smiled back, and turned to the computer. It had long since booted up, and was resting on the Windows 2000 log-in screen. “Oh, you need my password.” Siobhan said, making for the keyboard. “Let me just...” “No.” I interrupted. “You sit down. I'll get in, don't you worry.”




The username was already there, and so I began typing into the password box. This was a little difficult when you couldn't see what you were typing, so I had to be careful and make sure I was pressing the right keys. Eventually, after about a minute of constant typing, I pressed enter. The computer processed the information for a few seconds, then proceeded with the boot-up sequence. Siobhan stared. “That wasn't my password.” she said. “That was too long to be anyone's password. What *was* that?” I grinned. “Master password.” I said. “Well,” I corrected myself, “not quite a master password. More a password override. It's a command that works in most systems. I stumbled upon it a few years back on the net, and have since committed it to memory. I haven't come across many things it doesn't work on yet. But it does require me to know the username, it's handy yours saves automatically.”




The girls stared at me, and almost as one, said, “You have to teach me that!” They paused for a moment, looked at each other, then burst out laughing. It was infectious, and I soon joined them. “Sure thing, ladies.” I said, between giggles. “But not right now. Now, I have a computer to test.” I turned to it, opened a web browser, and searched for cpu-z. I downloaded it, and ran it. I clicked my tongue appreciatively. “Nice.” I said, mostly to myself. “2.4GHz AMD Athlon, 1.5GB DDRRAM... what, you couldn't spring for the extra 512?” Siobhan raised her eyebrow at me. I grinned. “This is a nice piece of kit you've got here.” I said. Looking through the Start menu, I noticed a folder marked “Valve”. I hovered over it, and exclaimed, “Ohh! Half-life! Sorry, girls, don't expect to get much out of me for a while!” I ran the game, and descended into it.




*****************************************




I arose from my game-induced stupor about two hours later, to find the room deserted. I looked around, stretched, and stood up. “Siobhan?” I called. “Emma? Anyone here?” I got no response, and decided to look for them. Wandering around the house, I looked through every door I came across. In one, I found Molly, hoovering the carpet. Upon questioning, she suggested I try the room dead ahead on the fourth floor. “Fourth floor?” I asked. “How many floors are there?” “Five, and the loft.” She replied. “Ground, first to fourth, and the loft. It's a lot bigger in here than it looks, huh.” I nodded, grinning, then turned to head off upstairs.




I opened the door directly ahead of the staircase, and poked my head through. My eyes grew to the size of dinner-plates. Clearly and loudly, a grin on my face, I said, “I'm not interrupting anything, am I?”
