Bugged Out!

by Matthew Porter

“What do I do?” she asked, holding her hands up like she was prepped for surgery.

  “I dunno,” I answered. “I’ve never been in this situation before.”

  She started to put her hands down, and the spheres moved down, too.

  “What the…” she said. She moved her hands forward a little, and the spheres backed up a few feet.

  “They’re following the way your hands move,” I said, amazed. “Try raising your hands or something.”

  She lifted her hands as high as she could, and the spheres shot high in the air. She started to move her hands around in different directions, and the spike balls mirrored them.

  “This is so cool,” she said excitedly. She clapped her hands, and the spike balls crashed into each other with a loud CLINGGG.

  Kelly flinched and threw her hands down to her hips, and the spike balls crashed violently to the ground. They shattered, and shards of metal scattered all over the place.

  “That...was crazy,” Kelly said, staring at her hands, which had stopped glowing.

  “That was awesome!” I exclaimed.

  A weird slashing sound came from the woods behind us, followed by the sound of trees crashing to the ground.

  Something big lunged out of the woods, and a bunch of trees fell behind it. It was a robot, an honest-to-goodness robot! Its whole body was shiny, reflecting the moonlight like a mirror. It had sharp blades where its legs and arms should have been, and was floating about a foot off the ground.

  “Targets spotted,” it said in a low, robotic voice. “Initiating capture mode.”

  “Initiating what?” I said as it floated toward us.

  Its cold, red metal eyes looked down at us like we were fugitives or something. Kelly and I ran. It chased.

  Before I could even process anything, the robot was in front of us, and we almost ran into it.

  “Kelly?” I whispered as the two of us backed away.

  “Y-yeah?” she said nervously.

  “Can you do that thing with your hands again?” I asked hopefully. “Make that thing crash on the ground or into a tree or something?”

  “I’ll try,” she said. She moved her hands like before, but nothing happened. She tried it again. Nothin’. She took another shot at it, but there was no purple glow. “I can’t do it,” she said in frustration.

  “Keep trying,” I said, keeping an eye on the robot.

  The thing shot toward us, and I stood in front of Kelly. “Stay behind me and keep trying,” I said.

  The robot moved in closer, and this time I took a step forward. “Back off, you tin can!” I yelled up at it.

  It didn’t say anything, it just kept floating toward us.

  “Be careful, Nick,” said Kelly.

  The robot didn’t stop. “Must capture targets.”

  “Don’t even try it!” I yelled.

  The robot opened its mouth, and the barrel of a gun popped out of it with a loud click. It was aimed right at me. There was a loud BANG! I closed my eyes, waiting for my life to be blown away...and something hit me right on the forehead.

  “Ow!” I yelled, rubbing my forehead.

  There was another BANG, and I was hit in the chin by something that definitely wasn’t a bullet. “Ow, stop that!” Another bang echoed across the field, and I was hit in the stomach. I looked down to see what I was getting hit with. They were beanbags... The giant, intimidating robot was shooting me with beanbags.

  It shot another one, and it hit me in the right arm.

  “You’re really making me mad!” I yelled. It answered with another shot, hitting me in the upper thigh. Now it was getting personal!

  I clenched my fists in anger, and my right hand flashed bright red so suddenly that it made me jump. Panic filled me when I looked at my hand. It was on fire! What was even freakier was that I could hardly feel it. It just felt like I was wearing a super-warm glove. Feeling even more panicked now, I waved my hand around to try to put it out, but the fire just got bigger. I unclenched my fist, and the flame curled into a ball and floated an inch or two above my palm.

  Looking at the fireball flicker in the dark, my panic started to vanish, replaced by excitement. This had to be my superpower!

  “Capturing targets,” the robot said.

  “Not if I can help it!” I yelled, a thrill burning inside me.

  I threw the fireball as hard as I could like it was a softball and it hit the robot square in the face. The robot stumbled back several feet before falling to the ground, and the fire spread across the rest of its body.

  I leaped with excitement. “Bull’s-eye!”

  Kelly hugged me. “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. You pulverized that thing!”

  My face felt warmer and more tingly than my hand did right before I chucked the fireball at the robot. Good thing it was kind of dark outside, or she would’ve seen me blush. “I, uh, it was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

  I heard Abbs yell my name. I turned around and saw her and J-Man running across the field toward Kelly and me.

  “Boy, am I glad you two are alright,” I said as they reached us.

  “That was most impressive,” said J-Man, panting.

  “You can throw fire?” Abby asked me.

  “Isn’t it awesome?” I said, grinning.

  She shrugged. “Sure, if you want to call it that.”

  I chuckled. “Don’t be jealous!”

  “I’m not,” she answered. “I’m just wondering why we had to go through this whole ordeal just to test our abilities. I mean, why did they have to put us in danger like this?”

  A familiar voice answered her. “You were never in any real danger.”

  We glanced over and saw Kristy approaching us. Her steps were straight and graceful, like she was walking on a ballroom floor instead of an uneven field.

  Abbs snorted angrily. “No real danger? What do you call those robots? Or those spikes that almost ripped me to shreds? And have you seen Nick’s arms?” She pointed forcefully toward me. “He’s bleeding everywhere!”

  Kristiana just looked at her with no emotion on her face. “Things aren’t exactly what they seem.”

  “That’s real cryptic,” said Abbs, throwing her hands in the air. “What do you mean by that?”

  “What I mean is, we aren’t really in the woods,” said Kristy.

  Kelly frowned. “You lost me there. Look around. We’re definitely in the woods.”

  Kristy smiled. “You’re in for a surprise.” She snapped her fingers, and everything blurred and spun around like we were on the Tilt-A-Whirl.

  J-Man, Abbs, Kelly, and I fell, but Kristy stood still the whole time. When everything finally stopped spinning, the scene had completely changed. We were in a gargantuan room made entirely of green tiles.

  “This is the training facility that we use for our agents to hone their skills,” Kristy said, spreading her arms wide. “We call it the Trial Room. What you just went through was level one.”

  “That was level one?” I asked, getting to my feet.

  “I would hate to see level two,” said Kelly as she stood up.

  “Yes, that was level one,” Kristy said. “It was designed to push you to your limits, thus bringing out your Segols, and you passed. Congratulations.”

  “That still doesn’t excuse the fact that you caused us bodily harm,” said Abby.

  “None of it was real,” Kristy answered. “Look at Nicklaus. Do you see a scratch on him?”

  I looked at my arms. They weren’t cut up! I was dry as a bone, too, like I was never in the water. “How did you do that?”

  Kristiana continued. “It’s all part of the program. This room creates realistic simulations through virtual reality. You even feel what is simulated. The nighttime breeze, the rocks underfoot, the pain of thorns cutting into your skin, water—it’s all part of the training. The machines you faced were the only real things in the simulation, which were there to test your abilities.”

  Now I noticed the piles of metal scrap fr
om the robots we’d pummeled.

  “So, what now?” J-Man asked, trying to straighten his glasses. “We passed this test of sorts, but what did we learn from such an experiment?”

  “You learned what your abilities are capable of,” Kristy answered.

  J-Man looked a little disappointed. “What an ability I have. Apparently I’m simply a human GPS.”

  Kristy smiled at him. “Your ability is much more than that, James.”

  “Please enlighten me, then,” J-Man said, apparently still disappointed.

  “Your Segol is called Scan,” she answered. “With this ability, you’ll be able to gather information on your environment, enemies, allies, and missions. This ability won’t do the thinking for you, though. You must choose how to interpret the information and use it to your advantage, something that I have a feeling you’ll excel at.”

  He rubbed his chin and smiled a little. “That does sound a little more interesting.”

  “What do you know about my ability?” asked Kelly eagerly.

  Kristy fell silent for a good long moment. “Your Segol is called Azusa’s Gravitation,” she said slowly. “You can control an object’s gravitational pull, make things or people lighter or heavier, and control which direction they go.”

  “Wait—” Kelly said as her eyebrows rose to her forehead. “Why...does my Segol contain my last name?”

  Kristy studied her for a moment, then said, “Another time, perhaps.”

  Kelly took a step closer to Kristy. “But…”

  “I’m afraid I cannot divulge such information at the moment,” Kristy said, looking stern.

  Kelly crossed her arms, her face twisted in annoyance, but she didn’t push any further.

  Kristy turned her attention to Abbs. “Abigail, your Segol is—”

  “A real migraine,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “Very unique,” Kristy continued. “It’s called Freeze-Frame, and it gives you the power to temporarily stop time within a given space.”

  “How is that even possible?” she asked, sounding agitated. “Wouldn’t that distort the whole time-space continuum or something?”

  “Time only stays frozen for seconds at a time,” Kristiana said, her tone calm but with that scary sternness behind it. “When it unfreezes, it will pick up where it left off. It’s difficult to explain, but I will tell you to use caution. For now, your ability will activate when you are in a panicked state, manifesting through your hands. To avoid Freeze-Framing your classmates by accident, I would advise keeping your hands down at all times, at least until you learn how to properly control your ability.”

  “It works on people as well?” J-Man asked, sounding a little surprised.

  “Indeed,” said Kristy. “Everything within range will be rendered completely immobile, frozen in time, with a few exceptions.”

  “When she Freeze-Framed the spikes back there,” J-Man said, sounding like he was debating something, “and the robot, I was not frozen. And I was certainly within range. I was standing right next to her.”

  “You are one of the exceptions,” said Kristy.

  “How so?” asked J-Man.

  “Everyone who possesses an uncorrupted Segol is immune to the effects of Freeze-Frame,” Kristy said. “It has other limits as well. At the moment, your ability will be ineffective when you’re in a large area, or if there are too many people around. And take heed not to use this ability too often. The more frequently you use it, the less effective it gets, and it usually takes a little while for it to recharge. In time, the range and the duration will increase, and so will control.”

  “Sounds wonderful,” said Abbs under her breath.

  “Don’t be discouraged, Abigail,” said Kristy. “It’s one of the rarest Segols in existence. In fact, only two other people have ever possessed it.”

  “Well, don’t I feel special?” Abbs said, rolling her eyes.

  Kristy turned to me. “Right, now for you, Nicklaus.”

  “I can throw fire,” I said, standing up tall.

  She glared at me for a moment, then continued. “Your Segol is called the Edanian Flame. You’re able to combust the oxygen around your hands and create a ball of fire. It will manifest itself when your emotions are high, and especially when you’re angry, so I must ask that you keep your temper under control.”

  “Pssh, I’m always as cool as a cucumber,” I said.

  “That’s not what I witnessed during the trial,” she said, sounding almost amused.

  I huffed. “Wouldn’t anyone get mad if something was shooting beanbags at them? C’mon!”

  “Please,” she scolded. “Just remember to stay calm. We don’t want you scorching one of your peers if they happen to get on your nerves.”

  I chuckled. “I can think of a few jerks at school that I’d like to use as target practice.”

  “Nicklaus!” she snapped.

  “What?” I said, holding my hands up in surrender. “I was only kidding.”

  “It’s not a joking matter,” she said as her eyes narrowed. “You can’t imagine the consequences of using your ability to harm someone who’s not a Corrupted. I don’t ever want to hear you speak that way, do you understand me?”

  I took a step back. “All right, all right. I’m sorry.”

  “Good,” she said, easing up a little. “You’re the leader of this group. As such—”

  “Hold it,” I said, hoping I hadn’t heard her right. “I’m the leader? Why?”

  “It was at Eli’s insistence, and I agree with him,” she answered. “Though you seem to make brash decisions at times, I can see you have the quality of a true leader. Eli said you have a unique gift perfect for the job. Greatness of soul, he called it.”

  “Greatness…of soul?” I said, no idea what that possibly meant.

  She nodded. “You must be careful from now on. Choose your words and your actions wisely. You’re no longer only responsible for yourself; you are now responsible for your team, and for representing the Edania Organization.”

  I shuffled my feet. “I don’t...think that’s the best idea,” I muttered.

  “It’s something that has already been decided,” said Kristy. “And it’s a fact you’re going to have to accept.

  Could I accept it, though? This was too much. How could I take on such a huge responsibility? I couldn’t say anything. I was tongue-tied. I looked over at the others, and they were all smiling at me.

  “I’ve not known you for long,” said J-Man. “But I agree with Eli’s observations. You seem to have excellent potential as a leader.”

  “It’s not like it’ll be different than any other time,” Abby said, giving me a smart-alecky smile. “You’ve been bossing me around since birth.”

  Kelly put her hand on my shoulder. “I think you’ll be a good leader, Nick.”

  I smiled at her and the others. “I...won’t let you guys down,” I said, trying to sound confident, when in reality I was scared. More than scared—I was terrified.

  Who was I to lead the team? I mean, J-Man was the smartest person, like, ever. Kelly seemed to have that way of making you feel like you could do anything. And Abbs always had that common sense that I never did. Why not one of them? I was the least qualified for the job. Eli and Kristy were wrong... They didn’t know what I did. They didn’t know the kind of person I really was. I was the reason Abbs and I had had to move here in the first place. If they knew who I really was, I probably wouldn’t have been chosen to be part of this team at all, let alone lead it.

  My thoughts were interrupted by Kristiana clearing her throat. “Now for other business,” she said. “You are now members of the Edania Organization. As such, you are entitled to the privileges therein. Please take these.”

  She felt around her pocket, took four cards out, and handed one to each of us. “These are your identification badges. With these, you will be able to access most of the rooms in the building. Now, there are a few final issues I wish to address, but we can discuss them on
the way out.”

  We left the Trial room and walked toward the elevator.

  “What can you tell me about the insect problem at your school?” Kristy asked as she pushed the down button on the elevator.

  “There haven’t been any sightings of the insects in the last two days,” J-Man said.

  The elevator opened, and we got in. Kristiana hit the L button and swiped her ID card.

  “I have a feeling that this is the calm before the storm,” said Kristy mysteriously. “The energy that Doren’s minions have collected is not sufficient enough to break the Ark’s barrier, although our sensors show that they are getting close. I’d be willing to bet that a second wave is coming.”

  “So, what are we supposed to do, play exterminator?” asked Abbs.

  “Unfortunately, the insects are not our primary concern,” said Kristy. “Your first priority will be to acquire the Ark before the enemy does.”

  “Wait, shouldn’t we focus on the bugs first?” I said, not believing what I was hearing. “I mean, they can really hurt people.”

  “We must look at the larger picture,” she answered. “The insects can indeed cause harm, and if the opportunity arises for you to get rid of them, by all means seize it. However, if we allow the Ark to fall into Doren’s hands, it will pose a much larger threat. This is the opportune time to get the Ark because we have the element of surprise. It is highly unlikely that the other side knows about the four of you yet.”

  “This is a lot to digest,” said Kelly, her arms crossed.

  “I understand,” said Kristy. “And it will get worse before it gets better. In the coming days, you must learn to control your Segols if you wish to effectively take down Doren’s faction. Which reminds me…” She paused. “I must warn you that your abilities will be weaker when you leave this building.”

  “And why’s that?” asked Abby with a little head bob, indicating that famous attitude of hers.

  “You’re close to the Light of Edania here. When you’re in this building, it enhances all non-corrupted Segols by roughly forty-five percent.”

  “How are we going to fight these insects and get the Ark if our abilities are hindered that much outside of this building?” asked J-Man.

  “Your abilities will continue to grow,” she answered. “Especially within the first few weeks. You should be able to face this task.”