Powers

I would… die in one year? And this disease gave us superhuman powers? "This is a dream - right?" The doctor shook his head. "Sadly, no it is not." "Then… what is my power?" "We don't know yet. You'd need to use it for us to know what it is, so we know as much about your ability as you." I put my head in my hands. This was a lot to take in. "Why don't I remember anything?" "We don't know exactly why, but we can assume that the disease either completely deleted or blocked your memories, like a barrier. In some cases, it is possible to 'break through' this barrier, although it is rare, and it seems that there are multiple of these barriers." "Last question: Who am I?" The doctor seemed surprised. "You don't remember?" "...No? Was I supposed to?" He sat there, and seemed to realize something. He then stared at me for a moment before whispering "But I thought there could only be one?" "One what?" I asked. He waved it off. "Nothing. Anyway, your name is Star Tel."

A drawer suddenly popped open on one of the walls, and he got up and reached inside. "Ahh, here it is." He pulled out some kind of watch, with a screen about as big as my wrist."This is your universal device, UD for short. It allows you to open doors, get food from the cafeteria, it contains your ID, schedule, map, guide, a credit card, and basically anything you would ever need. You get $50 every day, assuming that you do all of the required work."

I glanced down at it. There was a number that was displayed on the screen with the letters 'PL' to the left. "Ah, that is your power level. It displays the amount of A particles you currently contain." "So… my power level is 1?" "No, it just cannot measure the amount of A particles that are present inside of your body without you first activating your ability. Now speaking of A particles, they are a miraculous discovery made by Doctor J. Aden. The A particles are a certain type of particle that is created when the virus enters your body. This virus, when it enters the cell, instead of creating more of itself, it creates these A particles. From what we've discovered, this is most likely the cause of the abilities that you gain. But - it is also the thing that causes you to die." He paused for a moment. "This particle, in addition to giving you powers, creates more, and more, and more of itself until eventually it… well, your body only has so much space."

"The amount of A particles in your body can be read to know two things. One: how much longer until you die. And Two: how powerful your ability is. The amount of A particles gradually increases over time. We have also found that doing certain activities can accelerate the rate at which the particles are created, although it would basically just be decreasing the time until you inevitably die. Just like this, there are activities to decelerate the creation of A particles. "

A moment passed before a bell abruptly rang. "Well then. That marks the end of our session. If you ever need anything, just ask, and one of our staff will help you." "Wait!" I said. "Hmm?" He asked. "So… am I supposed to be a test subject like in all of those stories, and movies, and all?" The doctor laughed. "No… no, this is a humane environment, and we do not treat you like objects. In fact, this place is designed to be just like a school." "A school?" I asked. "I wish I could say more, but I have other things to attend to." He led me out of the room, and into a hallway. I waved, and looked back down at my watch.

I opened the app that was labeled 'ID'. There was some information about me, like my name, gender, room number, and my birth date. Apparently it was on January 11th, 2047. "What day is it today?" I whispered to myself. "April 25th, 2063, 2:16 pm." The watch responded, in what sounded like an advanced text-to-speech program voice. I jumped back. "Who was that?" I asked. "I am called A. D. A., or as many call me, Ada. A. D. A. stands for 'Advanced Directory and Assistant.'. I will be able to help you with functions such as the weather today, news, music, maps, calculators, and various other operations. All you need to do is ask me, and I will answer." I paused. "Ada, how old am I?" "You are currently 16 years old, and will turn 17 in approximately 8 months and 17 days." So I was 16? To be honest, I kinda guessed that age.

I looked back down at the watch, and said "Ada, open the map please." "Of course, Star." The screen immediately turned into what looked like a map of the building I was in. Apparently I was close to the dorms. A bell icon appeared right in the middle of the screen, and Ada started talking. "Schedule update: Your schedule has now been updated. Right now it is Free Time until tomorrow."

The bell icon disappeared, and I walked over to the dorms. It said my room number was 204. I looked around the map, and quickly found my room. I walked over to it, and tried to open it but… Huh? There was no doorknob! There was only a socket about the size of my arm. My watch vibrated, and a video popped up on the screen. It showed a hand going into the socket in the door, turning, and the door opening. I followed what it did, and the door opened.

I walked in, and was quickly met with a fist to the face. "I said no, Ral-" Someone said, before stopping. "Oh, you're not Ralos." I looked up and found a girl with black hair standing there. "Wait, Who are you, and why are you here?" I touched the spot where she had hit me, and quickly pulled my hand away. It really hurt. "Why'd you just punch me in the face?!" She rolled her eyes. "I thought you were someone else. Now answer my question." I got up, and looked at her. "My name is Star. Star Tel." "Yeah, and I'm the president of the entire Nation." "You… were being sarcastic, right?" I asked. "Well duh, and so were you. So tell me who you are." "I told you, I'm Star Tel." She crossed her arms and said. "Then prove it. Ada, tell me the name of the person in front of me." "The person's name is: Star Tel." She paused for a moment before saying "Ok, so you hacked into a highly-advanced AI system, and made it say that, but just tell me who you really are so we can just get this over with." I started getting angry. What was with this girl?

"What's so unbelievable about me being Star Tel?!" I asked angrily. She stared, then uncrossed her arms. "You're serious." She grabbed my arm, and pulled me inside. The door closed, and she let go of me. "Ok, so what is happening?" I asked, still angry, but now confused as well. She crossed her arms again, and said. "Hello. My name is Star Tel."