MORE THAN HUMAN

Something that I find quite curious is that I don't know what I am.

Well, although I know that I have abilities beyond those of any human, I have no idea where my abilities come from or why I have them, I've simply had them for a long time, but I don't know what these abilities make me some kind of mutant, laboratory experiment, or some supernatural creature.

Well sadly, skills don't come with an instruction book or a set of mysterious instincts that tell you how to use them, and worst of all, not all skills come unlocked and there is no guide to unlocking them either.

That's why when I discovered that I was different from normal people, I simply thought that I perceived the world differently than other people because at first, the only thing I had was what I would later call my spatial perception, which is summarized in a 360-degree field of vision, but with the particularity that I see everything around me simultaneously as if the world around me were a 3D model, in which I can see everything around me from all possible angles.

The interesting thing is that by perceiving the world in this way, my perception of time is altered, and to me, time feels slower almost as if the world stops around me, but at the same time, I end up feeling restricted, as if my body is bound by ten thousand chains, since only my mind works quickly, and my body continues at a normal pace, making any attempt to move normally useless.

But when used excessively over a wide range, it causes fatigue, drowsiness, and a feeling of discomfort similar to stress, which in the worst cases can cause a stroke, something I was about to learn the hard way when I tried to test my limits.

The really curious thing is how I discovered that what I considered my main ability, was just an ability, which was a little curious since it was thanks to a simple nightmare, which I barely remember, but it was one of those vivid dreams, that feels too real, too normal with nothing out of place like in normal dreams where there are a lot of incongruities that anyone could notice if they were in full use of their mental faculties.

But the dream boils down to the fact that I was somehow escaping from an animal, and during the dream, I was trying to get back home, but at the critical point of the dream, when I was about to be caught, I ended up waking up with a thud on my body, as I fell to the floor of my old house, where I lived alone for the first time, in an old rental house.

It was really one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life to escape from that house, which luckily was unoccupied for the moment because although I tried to repeat the process to return, it was impossible at the time, which after escaping from that house forced me to walk through a rather unsafe area at two in the morning, while I was half-naked because when everything happened I was only wearing underwear and a shirt, thanks to that, I hate the cold and now I usually wear warm pajamas, so in the worst case scenario I won't end up in the same situation again.

But I think I should stop escaping from reality and get back to reality.

Well, right now I'm in Anna's car, accompanying her back home, because after that confession the situation became strange, so we thought about going home early, where we will discuss the matter calmly in a more private environment.

So we decided to say goodbye to Tres, who looked like he was planning to keep partying until the sun came up.

But that's not really my problem, so I took an opportunity when he was heading to the back room of the bar to intercept him and let him know that Anna and I were about to leave, as well as get his new contact number and talk about a couple of personal issues that I needed his help with.

After that Anna and I left the bar, saying goodbye superficially to our new acquaintances.

And we're currently in the middle of a silent car ride, during which neither of us has said much.

Because Anna seems to still be thinking about the revelations she just received, while I don't know how to start a conversation right now, in a way that doesn't make her feel awkward or forced.

***

But there is no such thing as an uncomfortable journey, it lasts forever, because after a while we were finally back at Anna's house, in fact I think we got back in record time because although the journey felt too long thanks to the discomfort, I could tell that Anna was driving in a hurry than usual.

To the point that I came to think that if Anna continued driving that way at some point in our journey we would have an accident caused by her reckless driving.

This led me to think of scenarios where the same thing would happen and imagine how to avoid the accident or save my own life and Anna's in the process.

But to my surprise, we arrived home safely and without any traffic officers or police drones trying to stop us along the way.

– then you should explain yourself clearly, as this is quite far from the range of what I can easily accept.

As I hear Nana sigh, I try to intervene to explain myself, but before the words leave my mouth, Anna continues talking, preventing me from intervening.

– First of all, tell me, since when? Do you know about this? Have you been hiding it from me from the beginning? And why tell me now?

I think this should be considered a good thing, as it is a pretty normal reaction for a normal, rational person when their worldview falls apart and they discover that several of their friends have probably been hiding something from them their entire lives.

Something that at least takes a few minutes for the other person to come back to their senses and be able to resume a calmer conversation like a functional human being, not so affected by the emotions of shock and confusion.

Well, although in certain works of fiction, it is shown that the revelation of the supernatural world, in reality, this is not so simple, because in fiction the truth does not usually affect those who have just found out much, with said individuals often expressing disbelief, fear of this new knowledge and things they cannot control or sometimes excitement at being involved in something new and there is more to the understanding of normal people.

But it seems that this situation is different, because when they were revealed to me I reacted with quite a bit of disbelief, making fun of Tres, for what at that time seemed like a simple joke. After all, I was quite convinced that there were no such things that could not be explained by science until my jokes made Tres show me his abilities in a rather threatening way because until then I only treated his abilities as simple magic tricks, and if I came to believe it, he would not stop making fun of me for the rest of my life for being so gullible.

As for my own spatial perception, I never really considered it anything special, as it felt more like concentrating a bit to get a wider field of vision, and I honestly thought it was just normal, like people who have a heightened color perception, but they never mention it, as to them it's so normal that they won't notice how strange it is until someone points it out to them.

But Anna is reacting in a fairly normal way, with confusion, shock, and obvious surprise at finding something outside of the place in reality she thought she knew.

– You've calmed down enough now that we can talk about this in a calm state, where you get the answers you want and I'm free from the burden of having to hide this.

After being quiet for a while while Anna watched me waiting for an answer, I finally thought it was a good time to speak up when she was calmer and more comfortable with the situation.

– So now that you are more aware, tell me rationally what you need to know first, and I will tell you without secrecy or evasion.

– …

I want to tell her everything and get this thing over with for good, but even I know it's best to let her deal with this at her own pace.

– and if possible ask all the questions you want me to answer at once, because it would be

– Well, first of all, what are you?

I was expecting that question, because honestly, it would be the first thing I would ask, but it feels peculiar that that is her first question, since Anna is the type of person who doesn't usually worry much about things outside of her control, preferring to worry about how those things can affect her present or her future.

– Well, if you ask me, I could only lie to you, to sound credible, in which I would tell you an interesting origin story, involving multiple secret organizations, human experiments, and an entire secret society that exists in the shadows of our society.

I sigh in resignation at my boring reality.

– But if I had to tell you the truth, I would say that I don't know, because I have simply had my abilities since I became aware of myself, although I didn't discover how to "travel" until much later.

– and that is the boring truth where there are no human experiments, supernatural world, or greater purpose, simply some abilities that appeared out of nowhere and that one day went from being an interesting trick that was not very useful for someone living a normal life, to be an ability that can be considered a supernatural ability.

Well, that's the truth, although the human experiments thing may be false because I'm pretty sure that if someone is stupid enough to reveal their abilities stupidly, they have a good chance of becoming a lab rat.

After all, humans are a very curious species, always seeking to discover new things and find out the truth about how things work in the universe and those things they do not yet understand.

An individual capable of breaking the laws of physics will certainly arouse the curiosity of Friday people, who will do anything in their power to find out the origin of his abilities how they work, and what phenomena are involved in their operation.

Something that will undoubtedly end up attacking the integrity of whoever ends up being the subject of experimentation, but the reality is that I have not seen these cases in reality, so I do not think I should comment on human experiments, although I am pretty sure that they are happening somewhere, and who knows perhaps there is also a secret society, but if it exists I have not found it yet, I have only found clandestine societies with very strange rituals that would make you lose faith in humanity, if you had not already lost it in the process of finding them.

As I watch Anna process the information she just received, I wait for her next question, which comes fairly quickly.

– What can you do?

A pretty important question I guess.

– Hey, that's private, it's the kind of question you're not supposed to ask your friend with superpowers, in the novels, you know because of the knowledge is power thing and the kidnapping arcs where they kidnap the protagonist's friends to get information about their weaknesses.

I try to lighten the atmosphere, which has been too serious for some time now, but Anna doesn't like it.

As if I were serious, you think it's a good time for this kind of joke.

– But hey, since you are so special to me, I will share with you my dark secrets and my weaknesses.

It doesn't matter if a joke is out of place, if I don't look uncomfortable, then it's everyone else who will be uncomfortable.

– To sum up my abilities, I have two, my spatial perception allows me to see everything around me ignoring all obstacles in the form of omniscient vision, but I guarantee you that I have never looked through the walls in your house and I have not used it to search your drawers for secrets without leaving evidence.

I guess my oath isn't working, as Anna's thoughtful expression turned straight into a look of contempt.

But to preserve my emotional integrity we will ignore that.

– my second ability is teleportation, but I prefer to call it "travel". This depends completely on the first one since I need to know exactly where I want to go, and thanks to spatial perception I can understand where I am and where I intend to go, since memories and mental images are not precise enough to travel reliably, since with mental images there is a certain probability of ending up in an unknown place.

Something I learned the hard way when I ended up falling from a great height while trying to travel relying only on my memory.

Fortunately, the journey allows much of the inertia to be removed in the form of a slight shock wave upon reappearance.

This reminds me of when I tried to test my skills.

One moment.

Wait a second

Something is wrong.

I hadn't noticed.

But my mind is slowing down.

Which only means one thing.

My mind is shutting down.

And I think I know why.

I think it's because of the use of spatial perception.

Since I was using it all day.

And now my mind is overloaded.

And he just decided to log out before he did any permanent damage.

***

In the next moment, Kaden fell to the ground out of nowhere, while he planned to continue speaking, but from one moment to the next he fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut.