Forces of Nature, Chapter 2 by DGB
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"Dammit," Alex cursed under his breath when he heard his name over the intercom system. Another ten feet and he would have been out of the observatory and on his way home. It was Thursday night, and his grandfather knew it was the one night of the week he tried to be normal. He briefly debated what would happen if he ignored the page and just kept walking. The look of disappointment from his grandfather would haunt him for months. Alex sighed and headed back to the lab.
The lab was what you would expect of any major observatory, a large circular room ringing a telescope. Gleaming stainless steel and chrome tables were crammed around a variety of scientific instruments, and the countless computers created a whimsical cascade of light as data raced across the screens. Normally the lab would be filling up with technicians at this time of night to program and monitor the telescope for the evening, but tonight the room was empty. Long range sensors had picked up a lot of lightning from the oncoming storm, so the observatory would remain idle for the night.
Alex was annoyed to find the lab empty. Fixing a problem in here usually just meant rebooting a computer or resetting an instrument. Fixing a problem in the real observatory was going to take a lot longer and he'd probably miss game night. Alex left the telescope behind and headed for the security door at the end of the hall and up the spiral staircase.
You see the telescope and public side of the observatory was just for show. Oh sure they did real scientific research there, and made a nice income from renting out telescope time to universities, but it was all a cover for the real purpose of the building. The observatory monitored far more than stars in the sky, they monitored magical use across much of the South.
Magic wasn't really the best word for it, but it was easier to say than "manipulation of the forces of nature by gifted individuals." The ancients had no concept of catchy titles or acronyms; it wasn't until the late 90's that they changed the original men' to individuals', even though the few surviving ancient texts were full of powerful women. They called themselves manipulators, but that term had never really sat well with him either. He was taught growing up that in the Middle Ages manipulators were respected pillars of the community, often serving in the noble houses of Europe, but all that had changed around the time of the Spanish Inquisition.
Suddenly manipulators had been seen as agents of the devil, and in a few short years they had been all but wiped out. Only a few families of manipulators had survived in hiding. Few records had survived, and Alex had no idea where his family could be traced back to. Even as the families fled Europe to the Americas they had feared discovery, and a family tree would have been an easy way for a whole family to be hunted down.
The act of manipulation was forever given a negative connotation by Machiavelli. Alex shook his head as he continued up the stairs, `Always full of the useless facts.' The ranks of mages, as he preferred to call them, had been reduced even more as they blended with migrants to conceal their origins. No one really knew for sure how many mages still survived.
Star manipulators were the most common, either born to parents within the community or found as babies. Science had proven that stars were giant balls of burning gas in space, and their namesake manipulators were able to control the forces of heat and light. News of a baby that glowed in its sleep always seemed to spread fast, and the community would move quickly to protect and hide the child. Every few years an adult mage would be discovered after accidently tapping into their powers, but unfortunately they often were consumed by the forces within in before they could be located and helped.
Alex would never be certain, but he and his grandfather believed his parents had died trying to help a fire mage. Officially they had died in a hotel fire while attending an astronomy conference. They were lead researchers at the telescope, a perfect cover story for their work supporting the manipulator community. They'd co-author a few university papers a year with users of the telescope, but they could spend most of their time upstairs with gizmos far older than computers.
From those hidden rooms behind the security ward they kept a watchful eye on the balance of forces in nature. Nature always sought to more or less keep equilibrium; on a day to day basis one energy or another may be stronger or more evident, but eventually they averaged out. When the balance got too far out of whack, well, how else do you explain earthquakes, thunderstorms, volcanoes, and tsunamis?
You're average manipulator wasn't strong enough to cause a blip in the grand scheme of things, their own power split between forces, like heat and light for the star mage. And trained manipulators knew how to control the power, able to use the energy present in the world around them to maintain equilibrium rather than converting some of their life force into new energy.
Occasionally though a pure elemental would be born, someone that could manipulate only one force of nature. The ancient dials had detected a rapid buildup of thermal forces a few hundred miles to the west; that's why his parents had gone to investigate a possible fire mage, the conference was merely opportune timing.
Alex had been twenty two, only one exam away from graduation. Electronics had always come easy for him, and he figured he could be of use at the observatory maintaining equipment and working to develop new technology. His parents had both called him that morning to wish him luck on the exam. They mentioned that they might have discovered a new mage but didn't go into detail. They had both gotten on the phone together to tell him they loved him and were so proud of him, looking forward to watching him walk across the stage that weekend with his engineering degree.
It was nearly a week before he and grandpa could claim the bodies for burial; the inferno at the hotel had been followed by days of torrential downpours and flooding as nature rebalanced energy in the area.
Alex topped the stairs at the observatory to see his grandfather hunched over a monitoring device in the corner. The old man's red hair with only a few strands of white belied his 75 years, looking more like he was in his 50's. Alex had inherited a lot more than his powers from his grandfather; at 26 he could still pass as 22, and had the same red hair and green eyes, just under six feet tall. His grandfather had encouraged him to exercise as a child to work off excess energy, so he had always maintained a taut body. Like most star mages he had a pale complexion.
Manipulator culture still harbored more than a little fear from when they had been hunted in the inquisition. Children were taught to fear normal humans, and were forbidden to make non-manipulator friends outside of school. Ghost stories still circulated that a shadowy secret society funded by the church hunted them down like animals.
Since he couldn't have normal friends, Grandpa had filled in as Alex's playmate and confidant. Grandpa had been the first one he came out to; he just laughed and said he had always known, and loved him just the same. And now for the old man was the only family he had left. Alex finally coughed to get the older man's attention.
"Alex! I'm so glad I caught you. Come here and give your old man a hug."
As the hug lingered beyond what was normal Alex started to worry, "Are you ok? What's going on?"
"Just an old man and his hunches; I know you were probably on your way home to finish packing or play video games, but I'd really like you to stay here with me tonight. This storm is already registering on the sensors and I feel there may be an unusually strong energy rebalance coming."
Grandfather lived in a secret apartment beneath the observatory. As one of the most respected elders in the area, he was granted special living arrangements so that he was always able to access the monitors. Alex knew he would do as the old man requested; all manipulators had some level of empathic ability, able to sense emotions from those nearby and events churning in the ether. His grandfather's power was particularly sensitive to energy disturbances. If he was this worried, something was bound to happen.
Alex made his way down to the apartment to cook dinner, always an adventure in grandpa's little kitchen. Hopefully a bag of pasta would be hiding between the cans of tuna. For probably the hundredth time Alex wished he had some way to contact Jake and let him know he wouldn't be on to game that night. Jake was his closest friend after grandpa. Well, sort of like a friend. Alex had never actually met Jake.
The two had met randomly playing xbox one night, grouped together on the same team by chance. The two had become unofficial team leaders coordinating the attack, easily playing off the other's strategy. After the match Alex was happy to get a friend invite, and they ended up playing several more matches together that night.
At some point in the following weeks they had started playing just the two of them, and started to open up about their lives. Jake even lived in the same town. Playing games with Jake just felt so normal, and he would never admit it to anyone else but he had a little bit of a crush on his friend. He had lain awake more than one night trying to picture the body that went with the voice he had heard through his headset, realizing at one point that it didn't really matter what he looked like; an attractive guy had to have a good soul, and his friend had that covered.
None of it mattered though because of the rules. He'd never be allowed to date someone that wasn't a manipulator, and none of the ones he knew his age were gay. Even if they were, they were all too stuck up for his taste. A lot of mages in his generation had been exposed to too much pop culture growing up and thought their powers made them better than their fellow man, like Harry Potter death eaters. Ok maybe that's a little too harsh, none of them were evil enough to actually harm someone.
Alex's grandfather was settling onto the couch to watch the 10 o'clock news when the warning klaxon sounded: a major disturbance in nature had just dangerously shifted the balance of forces. Both men sprang into action; Grandpa rushing to the monitor room and Alex to prepare the chamber of elders. The alarm was ringing out across the city to summon the council for an emergency meeting.
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The elders had deployed several emergency measures to bleed off excess energy over the following days, managing to contain the fallout to only a minor heatwave. Based on the local paper, damage from the storm had mainly been confined to one square block downtown. Of course one of the elders thought that they were under attack; but with no evidence the claim was quickly dismissed. After all, an attack would have hit a target like the observatory. No manipulator related business had been affected. The elders concluded after a week that perhaps the storm had been from natural causes after all.
Grandfather was not convinced.
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Alex had finally managed to get moved into his new apartment the week after that, carrying in the last of the boxes from his car Wednesday night. He had Thursday off to finish moving, so he stayed up half the night unpacking. When he finally woke up around lunch he meandered into the kitchen to make some coffee.
In his rush to finish packing and move, Alex had gotten lazy labeling boxes. He found the coffee maker easy enough but the coffee pot eluded him. Maybe it was time to break down and buy a Keurig. Giving up the search he pulled out his cell phone and located a coffee shop only two blocks away.
Alex felt a slight disturbance in energy as he got in line for coffee. Nothing major, just a little tingle, but he had no doubt another manipulator was nearby. In a few seconds he was able to tune into the source of energy, a guy his age sitting in the corner. The guy was kind of cute in an adorkable sort of way. Not what most would consider classically handsome, but still attractive.
Alex's opinion instantly soured when he felt the other mage probing him, the tendrils of power trying to read him. Using your powers on another was considered a social taboo in the manipulator community. Alex couldn't help but smirk when the asshole frowned slightly; of course he had been unable to sense anything through Alex's shield. Basic shielding was nature to a manipulator, instinctively learned. The barrage of emotions from others could get overwhelming and a shield was the only way to stop the assault.
As a courtesy to other manipulators most mages also tuned their shields to block any outgoing emotion as well, sort of like being quiet in a library. But this asshole in the coffee shop was shouting at the top of his lungs. Must be a tourist or something passing through town, Alex thought, since he knew all the mages in the area.
Alex was in no mood to be social, so he just got his coffee and headed home to unpack. The cable guy was supposed to show up sometime between 2 and 5 to install the cable modem, so he wanted to get everything setup to test the connection. Hopefully everything would be ready for game night with Jake, assuming he was even on. They hadn't had a good game night in 3 weeks because of the storm and then his moving. Alex was pacing in the living room when the cable guy showed up at 5:15.
Alex rushed to boot up the xbox as soon as he locked the door behind the cable guy. "Yes! Jake is still on," he thought, sending his friend a party invite.
It didn't take long to get a response, the familiar voice calling out, "Hey man! I didn't think you were going to be on."
"Oh man you have no idea how bad I need to game tonight. It has been a hellacious few weeks and I need to blow off some steam."
"Ditto. Let's go roast some noobs," Jake said, rallying them to battle.
Alex was happy to be reunited with his friend; Jake always made him laugh without even trying.
"I really should be unpacking," Alex said, "I just moved into a new apartment downtown. Have I ever told you I work for the observatory South of the city?"
"Nope, but that explains starmage finally. I've always been curious but never wanted to ask."
"Oh yeah, that's it" Alex chuckled to himself. His gamertag had always been a source of amusement, the ultimate inside joke. "Anyway that big storm two weeks ago really screwed up some of the instruments. I've been working overtime to try and get everything back in order. My lease was up at the same time, so between work and moving I haven't had any time to relax."
Jake replied, "Oh yeah, I know what storm you are talking about. It hit my office and fried all the computers. I'm getting a month long vacation while they try to repair the damage."
"Ugh I'm jealous. I could really use a few days to finish unpacking. I had to go out for coffee this afternoon because I haven't found which box the coffee pot is in. Somehow I managed to pack the machine and filters in same box, but not the pot!"
Their chat was interrupted by another friend joining the party and looking to play. It was sort of an unspoken rule Jake and Alex had – the two of them had bonded enough to talk freely, but anyone else in the group meant chatter stayed strictly anonymous. They didn't even call each other by name with other people on, it was just easier to avoid nosy questions.
Alex still hadn't managed to find his coffee pot, so Friday morning he stopped by the coffee shop on the way to work. The line was longer than he expected, and now he was going to be late. Rushing out he felt a surge of energy through the door. Startled by the shock he stopped to look; of course it was the guy from yesterday, once again being reckless with his power. "Look I don't know who or what you are, but this town is protected so don't even think about making trouble."
He didn't wait for a response before walking away. If he hurried maybe no one at the observatory would notice he was late.
Alex finished unpacking everything on Saturday, and even though he had finally found the coffee pot he decided to go to the coffee shop Sunday morning to get out of the apartment for a while. He was brushing the crumbs of a cream cheese Danish off his pants when he felt the presence of the other manipulator once again, still leaking energy all over the place. Alex also realized that his initial assumption that the guy was a tourist passing through was probably wrong since this was the third time they had crossed paths.
The guy pretended to stretch in line and looked directly at him. "Maybe this guy isn't so oblivious," Alex thought. Feeling a little mischievous, he gathered some of the heat in the room into an invisible sphere of energy and gently lobbed it at the guy's back. .
"Shit," Alex stared in horror as the guy collapsed in a heap. This was so not what he planned, that much energy shouldn't have been enough to do any damage against the guys shield. Alex rushed over to apologize and reached out his hand, "Hey man are you ok? Let me help you home."
The guy just nodded in a daze. Alex put his arm around the guy for support and started walking. They walked in silence while Alex tried to figure out how to apologize. The guy was still throwing off emotions, but now they were nothing but confusion. His parents had raised him to be better than this to his fellow manipulators.
"Well, this is me here," the man broke the silence. "Thanks for helping me get home; I really don't know what happened."
"Do you have an elevator or just stairs?" Alex asked, still feeling guilty.
"Stairs."
Alex stifled a sigh, of course it would be a walk up, but this was all his fault. "Ok then let me help you up. I feel so bad about this; I'm really a nice guy when you get to know me."
The poor guy's hand was shaking so bad he couldn't get the key into the lock. Alex took the keys and opened the door. Spying a couch in the living room he put his hand back around the stranger and headed in. "I really am sorry about all this. I didn't mean to use that much power, I figured you'd be able deflect it with no problem. Even then I'm really sorry I've been such an asshole to you. I've just been so stressed between work and moving to a new apartment that I've been taking it out on everyone."
Suddenly it all clicked into place for Jake, he knew that voice, "Starmage? I mean Alex?"
It couldn't be. "Jake?"
Alex jumped back when Jake smiled in response. This couldn't all be a coincidence. Thinking fast Alex summoned a light shield to surround his body. He wouldn't attack first but he sure as hell was going to defend himself. "Who do you work for? Have you been hunting me down?"
"What?" Jake began to cry, "I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing makes sense since that damn storm."
Author note: What, you didn't see this ending coming? Chapter 3 will be up shortly... Let me know if you enjoyed the story so far.