Chapter 61

Now, I’m not sure what ZAM! is, but it slashed a nasty-looking gash right through the side of the speaker, the smell only minimally better than that of the company that surrounded me. “Too much POW! not enough ZIP!” I told myself as I started in on attempt number two. This time I willed the radiation to a lower level, the mental setting switched from ten to five. Again I felt the familiar sensation, but this time all I got for my troubles was a crackling noise, like static. Again, it was better than the sound the current company was making, but not what I was going for.

Attempt number three was a mixture of POW!, ZAP!, and ZAM!, but this go around I managed to modulate the three, forming, it felt like, a wave of some sort instead of a constant beam. I stared at the speaker, bombarding it with this new sort of ray that shot forth from my eyes.