Comes Great Responsibility

by Chuck Kienzle

  “Understood. Now, we need to get you to Medical so Doctor Franks can evaluate you,” he said.

  “Who is Doctor Franks?” I said.

  “Milt Franks is the head of our medical staff, He is an expert on super-powered health. You'll like him,” he said.

  I was not sure of that. I never liked doctors, except for my father. Since I was never sick or really ever injured, I had little need for medical care. My contacts with the medical profession were more scientific. Just as with John, doctors tried to find out the source of my powers. Except for John and myself, all powered individuals enhanced abilities were derived from the Power Virus that John brought to the world sixty years ago. He had no idea he carried the virus. John and my genes showed evidence of genetic manipulation. Aside from purely physical enhancements, all super-powers seemed to be psi based.

  Once in the medical section, we walked to an exam room. A man waited for us.

  John introduced us,” Clarissa, this is Jules Fifer. He is a null.”

  Of course, just as the nullifier interfered with the security scanners, it would do the same with any diagnostic scans.

  Fifer wore black pants with a black long sleeve pull over shirt with with the Agency shield on the left shoulder. He was tall, thin and had a buzz cut, like John. Lots of powered men, and some women, cut their hair to emulate Apollo. Personally, I never liked the trend.

  “Artemis, I heard you were back?: he said.

  I held out my right hand and said,” Clarissa Brown.”

  He shook my hand and said,”Sorry, I never thought I would have the chance to meet you. Of course, I never tried to nullify the powers of anyone with your abilities. This should be a challenge.”

  I said to John,” I don't know if I am ready for this? What if I lose control again?”

  “That was then. You have the past five years, mostly with regular people. Did you ever lose control?” he said.

  “No, but I did not have my full powers,” I said.

  “You still had standard powers. You have seen what happens when people with those abilities can do when they lose control,” he said.

  He was right. One person with just standard powers could wreck havoc, injure or kill people. More than once, I wished I could throw someone out a window, which I never did.

  We walked into the examination room. The drapes had been drawn to cover the window to the corridor. The diagnostic table was in the middle of the room. A half wall with a window on top separated the diagnostic control room. A man in a lab coat and a woman in green scrubs waited for us. The name tag on his lab coat identified him as Doctor Milton Franks, the headquarters's medical director. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties and was of average height and weight.

  He extended his hand and I shook it. He applied just a bit more pressure than I expected and I returned it. I discovered, after I started to lead a “normal” life, that that was a way that powered people tested if they met another powered person, at least, those with enhanced strength. When I was Artemis, I would not have noticed.

  The woman's name tag read,”Janis Worthington, Diagnostic Technician.” She handed me a paper gown.

  “Please remove all your clothing and put on the gown. You can hang up your clothes on the hangers on the wall. Then just lay on the diagnostic bed and tell Janis you are ready,” Doctor Franks said.

  The technician, with Doctor Franks and Mr. Fifer went into the control room and John left the room. The window to the control room turned black and I disrobed, put on the gown, got up on the table and laid down.

  I said, “I am ready.”

  The window to the control room went transparent and Ms. Worthington walked over to me and said,“You need to deactivate and remove your nullifier. Mr. Fifer will nullify your powers during the first part of the test.”

  I reached over and turned the top of my “watch.” As soon as I did, I feel a tingling all over my body that quickly faded as Fifer nullified my power. I felt weaker, a null's power was more effective than a nullifier. I handed the nullify to the technician.

  “Let's get this started. I have limits,” I heard Fifer say over the speaker from the control room.

  The technician said ,” Just relax. The bed's clam shells will begin to close. You aren't claustrophobic are you? Oh, I am sorry, of course, you aren't. Just relax. When the first series of scans are complete, we will begin the second series after Mr. Fifer stops nullifying your powers.”

  She knew who I used to be. That made sense, since, she was conducting the scan. Still, it bothered me a little. For the past five years, I made every effort not to bring any special attention to myself. I just wanted to be treated like everyone else.

  The clam shell doors closed over me and a strip of lights around the edge of the bed illuminated the inside of the doors. The bed was an amazing piece of medical technology. It could record a person's vitals, do an EEG, an EKG, an X-ray and run an MRI.

  I lay quietly for a few minutes, then the technician said,” Please hold your breath,”

  I heard a hum.

  “You can breath now, that was the x-rays,” the technician said.

  A minute later, I heard a hum with a slightly higher pitch as the MRI session began.

  When the hum ended, I heard Fifer say,” Your full powers should be coming back, Now!”

  The tingling came back. My bio-shield enveloped my body. My bio-shield allowed me to feel normal sensations of touch and temperature while it blocked anything that could harm me. I “looked” and could “see” the technician and Fifer in the control room. .

  Then the memories I thought long buried came back. I remembered Dave, the man I loved, as he lay on the ground after being pummeled. I could “see” it was too late, but I flew down and threw his attacker away. I heard, but did not care, when the man smashed through a building. I did not care that he died. I cradled Dave's body in my arms and just cried. I was still holding him when John found me.

  “Ms. Brown, are you alright? Your heart rate just spiked,” Doctor Franks said over the speaker.

  I said,” I am fine. Must have been a reaction to my returning powers.”

  “Just relax, the testing will be done soon,” the Doctor said..

  I tried to relax. A few minutes later, the clam shell doors opened. Doctor Franks and John stood by the bed. I could “see” John's bio-shield and Doctor Franks' muscle density confirmed that he had, at least, standard physical powers.

  John had showered and changed into the same type of cloths that Fifer wore. On his name tag was: John Smith, Special Agent. He always considered the name Apollo a title. He was, always, more comfortable with the name they gave a lost two year old boy who could lift a car.

  I sat up, turned and put my legs over the edge of the bed. I said,” How am I?”

  “The first tests showed you were in perfect health for someone with standard powers. The second tests showed that your bio-shield is as strong as it was the last time you were tested. Your vitals match what was standard for Artemis, except, for that spike in your heart rate. Do you why that happened?” Doctor Franks said.

  “Not really, but I don't think it is anything to worry about,” I said.

  “You let me decide that. However, I do not see anything physical that would prevent you from returning to full duty,” the doctor said.

  “Full duty?” I said.

  “Only until you decide to leave us again,” John said.

  I controlled my anger. I wanted answers to where I came from and why I, and John, were sent here. I, also, wanted to do all I could to prevent a nuclear attack on the headquarters and Alamogordo. I had to work with the Agency to do that, with my full powers, no matter how much I hated to do that.

  After the men left, I floated down off the table. I went over to my clothes, picked up my blouse and looked at my id badge. I assumed that my security was now upgraded from guest. I got dressed and went out into the hall where John waited.

  “We need to talk. Hungry?” John said.

>   I was hungry. Many people were surprised that John and I got hungry, even that we need to breath. In the end, we were still humans with human needs.

  “Shouldn't you attend the security meeting?” I said.

  “I can monitor it and I can comment through my comp link, besides, you are my first priority. Remember, I can multi-task,” he said.

  I had seen John “attend” a meeting on the other side of the world. Some claimed he could read minds, which was false. He could just “see” and “hear” anything around the world.

  “Lead on,” I said.

  I followed John to the cafeteria, which looked exactly as it did five years ago. The cafeteria was open twenty-four seven. It was, normally, set up to seat fifty people, although there was enough room to seat a couple of hundred. The lunch crowd has just left, so there were only a few people in the room. No one in the room took a second look at John. The Agency's personnel saw him often enough so it was not a big thing when he walked through the room. That was not the usual case in the outside world. I walked with John over to the food counter.

  Since only essential personnel were on duty there was no cafeteria staff behind the counter. We stood in front of a touch screen for the restaurant size food printer. I scrolled through the short menu and selected a ham sandwich. John selected scrambled eggs and toast. While we waited for our food to print, we went over to the drinks dispenser. John got a glass of orange juice and I got a cup of coffee. A few minutes later, when our food was ready, we pulled it out of the printer.

  When I turned around to the tables, I heard in my mind, The prodigal daughter returns!

  An Asian American woman sat across the room. She was, of course, older, but I recognized Jane Kim. She was still short, thin with short black hair. A year before I left the Agency, the thirteen year old Kim was brought into Intake. She was in an argument with her parents when her telepathic power manifested. She did not mean to fry her parent brains with a telepathic blast. The last I knew was that she was in intensive therapy.

  I closed my mind to her power and walked over to her. John followed. She smiled when I got to her table. Her pupils dilated when she looked at John and I picked up a increase in her endorphin levels. I “scanned” John and did not “see” the same reaction. She really liked him and he did not quite return the feelings.

  “So you are back,” she said.

  “Jane, I assume you “said” something inappropriate,”John said.

  “Would I do something like that?” she replied in a sultry voice.

  “Yes, you would,” John said.

  Kim looked at me and said,” Forgive me.. Welcome back and do you always float?”

  I closed my eyes in embarrassment and lowered my feet to the floor. I was surprised my habit of levitating had come back so quickly after five years of being grounded.

  John and I went over to a table along the far wall and put our on the table. After we sat down, I asked,” Is she stable?”

  “After years of therapy, she is as stable as any telepath,” he said.

  Telepaths were not known for their stability and the most powerful ones even less so. Trying to keep other people's thoughts of of their heads was not easy. Once nullifier technology was developed, it helped, but it was no panacea.

  John ate his breakfast. He had the far away look that I had seen so often as he “looked” away. I assumed he was “watching” if the security meeting had begun.

  “I am 'watching',” he said to the meeting through his comp link.

  He surprised me by saying,“So, how have you been?”

  “I am sure you and the Agency kept tabs on me,” I said.

  “The Agency did what it always does. I stayed away as much as I could,” he said.

  I took a sip of my coffee and then said,” It took me a while to get my head on straight. My work helped.”

  “Friends?” he said.

  “Co-workers. It is difficult to make long term friendships as a contractor,” I said.

  “I understand. I, also, understand that it is easier to avoid being hurt if you don't let anyone to get too close,” John said.

  I did not want to admit that he was right, but he was. It had been a habit to avoid any long term relationships, friendship or romantic. To do my job, I had to be friendly with my co-workers. I did not have to be their friend.

  “You still follow the Pirates?” John asked.

  “Of course, how can you ask that. It was just stupid that the MLB they did not allow Clinton to reach the majors. Powered players can play with nullifiers,” I said in an excited voice.

  “It is his touch telepathy. It is easy to test strength. They were afraid that he could learn something by touching an opposing player,” John said.

  “This is just stupid!” I said.

  John smiled and said,” I am glad that something still can get you excited. You said you had questions to ask,” he said.

  “Of course, the same questions that you must have: where did we come from and why were we sent here?” I said.

  “And why did they choose to contact you to warn us of their coming?” he said.

  I took a bite of my sandwich and after I swallowed I said,” They want us together when they arrive.”

  “I agree, but they, also, chose the one of us who had the least ability. Also, they may have believed that you would chose to regain your full powers,” John said.

  “Why would they do that?” I said.

  “Perhaps they want to talk with both of us together. Perhaps they want to take us out together. We won't find out until they arrive,” John said.

  “Or we are attacked,” I said.

  “In that case, it is better for us to be together at full strength,” he said.

  “Just like old times,” I said with a note of sarcasm.

 

  Our clairvoyant powers, which allowed us to imitate super-senses, also, allowed us to “talk” to each other without speaking. It was not telepathy, we could not read each other's thoughts, just “hear” what we wanted to “say.” John, obviously, did not want our conversation to be overhead.

  >Like what?<

 

  Of course, I had heard of the battle. As much as I tried to avoid news about super-powered events, I could not avoid hearing about the battle that killed hundreds of civilians. Saifullah was an super-powered from Baghdad who was nearly as powerful as John. After the Cleveland Disaster, Saifullah appeared and began hunting rogue super-powered. Unfortunately, he saw himself as judge, jury and executioner.

  < What the public was told was a lie. Saifullah was not the villain. We both were on the hunt for a powerful telepath who controlled minds. I found her first, unfortunately, and she gained control of my mind. When Saifullah arrived, she commanded me to fight him, since he was resistant to her power. She had no concern about collateral damage. Eventually, after hundreds died, he managed to kill her, which freed my mind,>

  >You thought people would think less of you,>

 

  This was not the man I remembered. Apollo always stood up for the truth, even after he became the Agency's Director. Cleveland affected him more than I realized. I had heard people express fear of powered people, even experienced it on a few occasions. But, it never seemed extreme.

  >It is you who were afraid. The man who feared nothing>

 

  >But, you never lied>

 

  I had grown up to see Apollo as the world's greatest hero. Even when I gained powers to match his, he was still almost god-like to me. Looking back, I probably overlooked any number of occasions when he may not have been q
uite truthful. I should of known better.

  John cocked his head and said,”Director, I will meet you in your office.”

  He said,” Duty calls. You need to go to Security to get you set up for duty. We can talk later,” as he stood up.

  I nodded and watched him walk out of the cafeteria. Kim got up, walked over to my table and sat down. She was now eighteen and a young woman who thought she was an adult. I thought the same when I was her age. Like many women her age, and older, she was enamored with John. I could not blame her, I was at that age. John had not aged in forty years, so it might be easy to forget the age difference. I was sure that John had not.

  “Problems in paradise?” she said.

  I made to get up and she said,”Sit down. I am sorry, this is just the way I am.”

  I sat back down and said,”Insulting?”

  “When people get upset, they let their mental barriers down and it makes it easier to read them,” she said.

  “Must be tough on friendships,” I said.

  Kim's face looked sad for a moment, but just for a moment.

  “I have found that friendships are maintained by little lies to smooth over possible conflicts. That does not work with a telepath,” she said.

  “It can be hard on friendships when some people see you as a demi-god and some see you as someone to be feared,” I said.

  “Touche. You did not seem too pleased when Apollo left,” Kim said.

  “He has changed,” I said.

  “You changed. I changed. Everyone changes,” she said.

  She was right. Perhaps, I had changed more than he had. He was there when I needed him, when my full powers first manifested. He taught me how to control my touch telekinesis so I did not pick up everything I touched. He taught me how to control my clairvoyant powers so I did not constantly “see” and “hear” things around me, or even thousands of miles away. Without him, the only choice for me was to use a nullifier.

  “As long as I stay, I guess I will have to deal with those changes,” I said.

  “That's life,” Kim said.

  Chapter 4 – June 20, 2:30 PM Mountain Daylight Time