Planet Hero- Civilian

by M. A. Carlson

  “Well?” Light asked impatiently.

  “Time Compression,” I said. “It says 51% under the Power side and 6-Seconds Uncompressed Time.”

  “That is amazing,” Light said excitedly. “Imagine if you gain more Control over it, you could eventually get minutes of time compression. Do you know how much you can get done if you work outside of the constricts of regular time? By the same token, more Power and you can compress time even further. I guess you’ll just need to wait and see which has the higher gains once you get a little further in the development.” In other words, keep working on it.

  I agreed with Light’s assessment. And now that I knew more about my power and how it worked, I would have something to work on and practice. I already had an idea of how to take advantage of the time compression. But first, I would talk to Light and see if he had any recommendations.

  “Okay, so what’s next?” I asked.

  “That’s up to you,” Light replied. “You can try to figure out what your Space ability can do.”

  I immediately shook my head on that idea. I didn’t like the empty feeling my Nanos gave me when I felt the Space aspect.

  Light nodded in understanding. “Sometimes, our abilities make us uncomfortable in the beginning. It’s okay, but eventually you will want to at least see what it can do. If that’s off the table, then the only other thing we can do is cultivate Nanos and practice using your Time ability.”

  I didn’t argue with that. It was what I wanted to do. I had an experiment to complete.

  I had come to really enjoy the atrium of the Hero Association building, even if it was starting to feel a little bit like a prison. I sat and closed my eyes. With a thought, I felt my Nanos wrap me in a blanket of compressed Time and I knew my ability was active. Immediately I started a mental countdown.

  9 . . . 8 . . .

  I didn’t open my eyes. Instead, I felt for the wild Nanos that were usually moving around so rapidly, I could only grab one or two before having to search for more. This time, they were also slowed by my field.

  7 . . . 6 . . .

  I grabbed them, all of them, every single Nano that was within reach. Hundreds of them at a time.

  5 . . . 4 . . .

  I let myself be greedy and grabbed for more and more of them.

  3 . . . 2 . . .

  And before my counter hit ‘1’, I released my Time Compression, letting my Nanos settle back into my Bioenergy Converter. I felt tired, but that didn’t matter. I had in my grasp, 4,312 Nanos. I would have cackled like a mad genius if I wasn’t afraid of letting them all go if I got distracted. Still, I must have been grinning like a loon, my face hurt from how hard I was smiling. This was guaranteed to get me to the 3rd Milestone and possibly even the 4th. I probably should have considered how long it would take to tame so many Nanos before I did it, but if this worked, I would be able to make up a lot of ground very quickly. But ground to what? I had no idea. For now, I was just enjoying the ride.

  What was the gamer term I heard friends in High School say? Oh, right, DING!

  8

  Major Miracle sat in the center of one side of the table, flanked on either side by the other two permanent members of the council. Wet Work sat to his right and Mental Star sat to his left. Across from him sat Mechanic Parts, Hammer Jack, and Para-Hypno. Behind the three temporary council members sat Private Eye Light and Blue Ward. The topic of conversation was once again projected on one wall, though this time it was a still frame.

  “So, Davis Malory is a genius, is that what you’re telling me?” Major Miracle asked, his vision directed at the two guests.

  “I’m not sure if he’s a genius sir, but he’s found a way to cultivate Nanos using his ability to compliment the process. Granted, he is using the most basic and simple cultivation method to do so, but it is somewhat astonishing what he’s been able to accomplish,” Ward answered. “His ability, Time Compression, allows him to slow time, which also slows the wild Nanos. With time slowed, he can seemingly grasp thousands of wild Nanos and begin cultivating them before he ends his Time Compression. Eventually, he will slow down just due to large volumes it will take for him to reach the next Milestone. And that is if he never learns another cultivation method.”

  “I told you this was a bad idea,” Para-Hypno almost shouted. “Now you’ve got a guy that can stop time. Can you say ‘assassin’?”

  “Para, not now,” Major Miracle stated firmly, silencing the paranoid investigator. “Is he dangerous?”

  “Not really,” Ward said. “Yeah, he can slow time for a few seconds. The problem is that he can’t seem to move any faster than we can. In other words, he’s as slow to move as he perceives us to move.”

  “Basically, it gives him time to think and apparently gather Nanos by the thousands,” Light clarified, then blushed as he realized he was speaking to other heroes and not the oddity that was Davis Malory.

  “What Milestone is he now?” Major Miracle asked, ignoring Light’s odd clarification.

  “By now, he should be around the 10th or 11th,” Ward answered before Light could embarrass himself any further. “It really is quite interesting. A few more days and I imagine he will have achieved the 16th Milestone and brought his Time Power and Control both up to Average.”

  “What about his Space ability?” Major Miracle asked, seemingly satisfied with the explanation of Time.

  “He has yet to work on it,” Ward answered, causing Major Miracle to frown.

  The frowning Major turned his gaze on Para-Hypno. “Para, share with the council what you have learned.”

  “Even . . . them?” Para asked, his had motioning slightly toward the back of the room where Light and Ward sat.

  “Even them,” Major Miracle confirmed. “They know him best. I want to hear what they are going to say after you give your report.”

  “Fine, but I don’t agree,” Para said, looking unhappy. Then again, he was never really happy anyway. Reluctantly, Para started, “So, I’ve been digging into the power source that Dr. Portal used. It was created by Verdant Labs. It took more than a week to get them to even admit anything was stolen and even then, they were very tight lipped about it. To make matters worse, the lab isn’t able to provide us any specs on the device, because not even a day after the prototype was stolen by Dr. Portal, the blueprints and even the engineers involved were taken.”

  Wet Work spritzed his face with his water bottle then asked, “Two questions. First, how was Dr. Portal involved? Second, how were the engineers and plans taken?”

  Para looked disgruntled by the interruption, but given Wet Work’s status, he answered, “We don’t have a lot of details. Dr. Portal somehow had knowledge of the device and where it would be. According to one of his henchmen, the late Dr. was hired to provide transportation by another villain. Instead, he stole it for himself, undercutting whoever hired him. That villain is now desperately searching for Dr. Portal, whether it’s to kill him or to recover the device is undetermined. As to the engineers and plans, the plans were grabbed in a heist the next day, unlike Dr. Portal’s heist, no alarms were sounded, and no heroes were dispatched to respond. And the engineers were nabbed from their homes the same night.”

  “What do you know about Verdant Labs?” Mental Star interrupted this time.

  “Not enough. I’d never heard of them until this heist. I’ve been pouring through the company. I found a thread on an anonymous investor, I am pretty sure it’s a front for a villain, but I’m not sure who,” Para answered. “Honestly, Dr. Portal is probably our best shot at figuring out what was going on.”

  “Who’s dead,” Light commented.

  Para snorted, then asked, “Is he? Are you sure about that?”

  Light glared at the senior investigative hero. He was liking Para-Hypno less and less with every meeting. Light didn’t hesitate to answer, he stated, “Yes, Portal never had Time powers. And the scans all confirmed Davis’s Milestone and Body and Ability ranks before we began teaching him. And it
isn’t something that can be faked, a person just doesn’t suddenly lose all their Nanos.”

  Para huffed and looked like he wanted to argue but a look from Major Miracle stopped him. The Major then firmly ordered, “Para, please, continue your report.”

  “The fact is, whichever villain is responsible, he or she is very careful. I don’t see him or her making a mistake,” Para said. “We need something to draw the villain out. And right now, that thing is Dr. Portal.”

  Light was about to state one again that Dr. Portal was dead when Major Miracle spoke, “You want to use Mr. Malory as bait.”

  “I want to use Dr. Portal as bait. Malory is useless to us,” Para said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking very displeased.

  Major Miracle finally turned to the two guests. He asked, “Light, Ward, with the rate at which Mr. Malory is progressing, can you make him a match for Dr. Portal?”

  Light looked like he immediately wanted to say yes but hesitated. His hesitation gave Ward the chance to answer first.

  Ward started, “Davis is hesitant to work on his ability to manipulate Space. First, he would need to overcome that hesitation. Second, if he overcomes that hesitation, we need to teach him to use his Space ability to open portals. And finally, if he did learn to make portals, we would need to build up his Milestone to even come close to Dr. Portal’s ability. And if we raise his Milestone too far above Dr. Portal’s, then there would be a lot of suspicion.”

  “Can you do it?” Major Miracle asked.

  Ward thought for a moment then nodded. “I believe so, but we would need to take him into the wilds. With his cultivation technique, he would be able to gain a great deal of Nanos from fighting and defeating the various beasts there. It would also give us a chance to teach him to fight. Right now, he has no ability when it comes to combat. And with your permission, we could teach him a more advanced cultivation technique.”

  Major Miracle frowned at the last part but nodded his approval anyway. “I suppose we should ask Mr. Davis if he would be willing to try.”

  Light looked like he wanted to protest but held his tongue. He understood that sometimes, the greater good meant risking an innocent life. If Davis could somehow lead them to the villain trying to build the power supply, if they could put a stop to whatever this plan was, then wasn’t it worth the risk? Even knowing that, Light didn’t feel good about this plan. He finally spoke up, “I’ll help train him if he’s willing.”

  “Boy, you need the training almost as badly as he does,” Para sniped, grinning when he saw Light tinge with embarrassment.

  “Para, stop antagonizing him or I’ll send you with them to babysit,” Major Miracle threatened, silencing the shady hero in an instant.

  “Who will you be sending?” Hammer Jack asked.

  “Ward and Light, as you know him best, you’ll be in charge of training Mr. Malory if he agrees to go. Hammer Jack, seeing as you like a good brawl, you can go along as well and make sure they don’t get in over their heads.,” Major Miracle ordered. “Now, if there is nothing else, I think it is time I meet Mr. Malory for myself. Light, Ward, an introduction if you will.”

  9

  I was starting to love the sound of that chime and the message that followed.

  Congratulations! You’ve reached the 10th Milestone. The Nanos have accumulated within your body to a point in which it is now possible to enhance your Nano Evolved Body or Abilities. Be intelligent with your decisions as all choices are final.

  You may now open your Status and apply two points of enhancement.

  A mental order to pull up my status and two more enhancement points quickly distributed. All in all, I was very pleased with my progress.

  Davis Malory

  Aliases: N/A

  Occupation: N/A

  Alignment: Neutral

  Milestone: 10th

  Nano: 176,227/275,000

  Body

  Athleticism: 1

  - Strength: Average

  - Agility: Above Average

  - Accuracy: Above Average

  - Speed: Average

  - Stamina: Average

  Resistance: 1

  - Physical Resistance: Average

  - Energy Resistance: Above Average

  - Mental Resistance: Above Average

  Recovery: 1

  - Physical Injury: Average

  - Nano Energy: Average

  Ability

  Power: 10

  - Time: Below Average (4/10)

  Time Compression: 59%

  - Space: Weak

  Control: 10

  - Time: Below Average (4/10)

  Time Compression: 14-Seconds Uncompressed Time

  - Space: Weak

  I was absolutely thrilled with the growth of my Time Compression. To be able to slow time so much for 14-seconds was incredible, especially with the increased compression which now gave me about 22-seconds. Though admittedly, I was starting to worry about the number of Nanos I would need to cultivate to get to the next Milestone.

  I was about to close my eyes and start on another round of cultivation when I saw Light and Ward entering the atrium. With them was a large brawny looking man in a red bodysuit. Assuming they were coming to talk with me, I got up to meet them.

  “Greetings Mr. Malory, I am Major Miracle,” the man in the red bodysuit introduced himself before either Light or Ward could. I noticed the man didn’t offer a hand to shake. As a matter of fact, I don’t recall shaking hands with either Light or Ward. I would need to ask about that later. There were still so many cultural differences I was slowly but surely learning about.

  “Pleased to meet you, Major Miracle,” I replied, trying hard not to roll my eyes at the over the top comic book speech. It really was too much.

  “How has your cultivation been progressing? I’ve heard you have made great strides thanks to your Time Compression ability,” Major Miracle said.

  “I just reached the 10th Milestone,” I answered, more excited about telling Light and Ward than the newcomer.

  “Congratulations, that is quite the accomplishment, especially in such a short amount of time. Most people these days don’t go much past the 6th Milestone all their lives. Let alone the 10th. And in just two weeks at that,” Major Miracle praised.

  I couldn’t help but feel like he was laying it on a little too thick.

  “How can I help you today, Major?” I asked, getting tired of the small talk. This man was obviously there for a reason. And then I added, “And please, be direct. There is no need for that reassuring civilian talk.”

  “Ah, yes, Private Eye Light and Blue Ward mentioned you prefer direct speech,” Major replied. “I shall do my best to accommodate.”

  I nodded, waiting for him to continue.

  “We have a situation. It was one brought about by the way you arrived in this world,” Major Miracle began, his speech drastically different from just moments before. It was also not nearly as loud. “Do you remember Dr. Portal?”

  “How could I forget him?” I grumbled. My mind flashed back to that day, of seeing myself dead on the sidewalk. I mean, I know he wasn’t me, but still . . . creepy. Seeing Major Miracle was waiting for an answer, I added a quick, “Yes, I remember him.”

  “His . . . arrival in your world occurred just after he stole some kind of experimental power supply from Verdant Labs, a Nano-Engineering firm. And while we haven’t been able to get many details from the lab about the power supply, we have been able to piece together some of the details through other sources. For a start, Dr. Portal appears to have stolen the device from another villain, or rather just stole it first,” Major Miracle began. “We’re not yet sure who he stole it from, only that whoever it is, was very careful. In addition, this villain has now stolen the plans to the device and kidnapped the engineers involved with its creation. We believe the villain intends to rebuild the device.”

  This was the first time I had been given any more information about my situation. It was good to k
now that they hadn’t forgotten about trying to find a way to send me home.

  “Again, we don’t yet know what the device does exactly. But for anyone to go through so much trouble, I can only imagine it is quite powerful. And in the hands of a villain, it could be even more dangerous. At this point, we believe our best hope is to locate this villain and put a stop to the organization behind him or her before the device is rebuilt,” Major Miracle explained, pausing for a moment and taking a deep breath.

  “We have also learned that this villain is now looking for Dr. Portal.” The Major paused here and started looking at me expectantly, though I had no idea what he was expecting. “Your doppelganger, Dr. Portal. The man you are the spitting image of. He might be our only chance of finding this villain. Without Dr. Portal’s help, stopping whatever plan the villain has concocted could very well be impossible.”

  I should have just said no right then and there. Instead, I feigned ignorance and asked, “But I thought Dr. Portal was dead?”

  “According to you, he is dead, no one outside of the Hero Association is aware of this,” Major Miracle stated, then added, “Just like no one outside of the Hero Association is aware of you, his doppelganger.”

  “I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at,” I said. Oh, I definitely understood and there was very little chance I would accept. I hoped that if I continued to play dumb, they would think I was an idiot and come up with a different plan.