[ Location: Frostwell Residence - Vivan's Bedroom ]
[ Date: April 7th, 1985 - Sunday Morning ]
My alarm clock buzzed. A hateful, electric drill sound.
I reached out to hit snooze.
My hand passed straight through the clock.
"Huh?"
I blinked, staring at my hand. It looked solid. The clock looked solid. But for a split second, physics had apparently decided to take a coffee break.
"Okay," I muttered, rubbing my face. "With Great powers comes great bugs."
I swung my legs out of bed, expecting the cold shock of the hardwood floor. Instead, my foot met... absolute zero resistance.
I just... drifted.
I was floating two inches above the floor, bobbing gently like a helium balloon that had lost its lift. I tried to step down, but my foot just slid against the air like it was greased glass.
"Gravity?" I whispered to the room. "You there, buddy?"
Gravity left me on read.
'System. What is happening?'
[ Passive Ability Active: Reality Warping (Minor). ][ Status: Uncalibrated. Physics Engine Stability: 85%. ]
"Uncalibrated," I groaned, grabbing the bedpost to anchor myself. "I asked for god powers, and I got zero-gravity bedhead. Thanks, devs."
I managed to pull myself down to the floor using Telekinesis, effectively gluing my feet to the ground. It felt like walking through molasses.
I shuffled to the bathroom. I turned on the tap to splash water on my face.
The water poured out of the faucet. But it didn't fall into the sink. It coiled upwards, forming a perfect, shimmering sphere in mid-air, rotating slowly like a miniature planet.
"Come on," I sighed, staring at the floating blob. "I just want to wash my face."
I tried to grab the water. It dodged me.
"Get over here!"
I spent ten minutes chasing a globule of water around the bathroom, slapping at the air like a cat chasing a laser pointer. Finally, I managed to corner it against the mirror and smash it into my face.
[ System Notice: Reality Warping Proficiency Increased (0.5%). ][ Note: User must visualize the laws of physics to enforce them. ]
"I have to manually operate gravity now? Interesting" I muttered, drying my face with a towel that refused to wrinkle. "Just what I needed. More homework."
[ Location: The Backyard ][ Time: 10:00 AM ]
I needed to test the other one.
[ Hive Mind Control. ]
The description said I could dominate lesser minds connected to a network. But since I wasn't currently linked to the Mind Flayer (thank god), I needed a local substitute.
I spotted a squirrel sitting on the fence, twitching its tail. It was staring at me with that judgmental look squirrels have.
'Target acquired.'
I focused. I reached out with my mind, not pushing like with Telekinesis, but connecting. Like plugging a cable into a socket.
'Hello, rodent.'
[ Ability Active: Hive Mind Control. ]
The connection snapped into place instantly. It wasn't like Telepathy, which was a conversation. This was a seizure.
Suddenly, I was the squirrel.
NUT. WHERE IS NUT. HAWK. DANGER. NUT. TAIL ITCH. NUT.
The thoughts screamed into my brain, loud and frantic. It was like listening to a radio stuck between static and a heavy metal concert played at 4x speed.
"Quiet!" I commanded mentally, wincing.
The squirrel froze. It stood on its hind legs, spine rigid, and saluted.
"Okay," I blinked, rubbing my temples. "That worked."
But then, I felt another ping. And another.
Four more squirrels dropped out of the trees like paratroopers. They lined up on the fence, staring at me with dead, loyal eyes.
COMMAND US, GIANT. WE HUNGER.
"Oh no," I whispered. "I accidentally drafted a squad."
My head started to throb. The mental noise of five squirrels screaming about nuts was deafening. It was like a conference call where everyone is shouting.
'I need to filter this with Occlumency.'
I raised my mental shields, dampening the noise until it was a low, manageable buzz.
"Okay, soldiers," I said aloud, feeling ridiculous. "Your mission... is to clear the leaves."
The squirrels scattered instantly. They didn't rake. They just... ate the leaves. Or buried them. It was chaotic, inefficient, and terrifyingly obedient.
"We need to work on strategy," I noted as one squirrel tried to fight a rake. "But the loyalty is S-Tier."
[ Location: The Palace Arcade ][ Time: 1:00 PM ]
The Arcade was the neutral zone. The Switzerland of Hawkins.
I walked in, expecting tension. Instead, I found peace.
Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were huddled around Dragon's Lair. Richie and Bill were at Dig Dug.
"It's a conspiracy," Richie was saying to Dustin, waving a half-eaten pretzel. "New Coke? It's poison. They're trying to control our minds with sugar. It's the Russians, man."
"That's ridiculous," Dustin argued, adjusting his hat. "It's just a marketing ploy. It's capitalism, Richie."
"Sheep," Richie scoffed. "You're all sheep. Bah."
I walked over to Will. He was playing Centipede, but he was losing. His hands were shaking on the trackball.
"Hey, Will," I said softly, leaning against the machine.
"Hi, Vivan," he murmured, eyes glued to the screen. "I'm... not doing so good today. My hands won't stop shaking."
'He's still feeling the pain of the possession...'
I looked at the game. The centipede was descending fast.
'Telekinesis: Micro-Adjust.'
I just... nudged. A pixel to the left. A pixel to the right. Just enough to steady his aim.
Will's shooter dodged a spider by a millimeter. He fired. Blam.
"Whoa!" Will gasped, a smile breaking through the anxiety. "Did you see that?"
"Nice reflexes," I smiled back. "You got this."
He cleared the level. His score jumped. He beamed at me, the shadows in his eyes retreating for a moment.
"Thanks, Vivan."
"You did it, kid. I just watched."
I looked across the room.
Max and El were sitting in a booth, sharing a blue slushie. El was wearing a hat and sunglasses (my Illusion skill was active on her, making her look like a generic blonde tourist to anyone passing by).
Max was laughing at something El said. El was smiling, her tongue bright blue.
'Good. The harem is stable. The party is united.'
"Hey, Vivan," Dustin called out. "Did you hear about the fire at the Steelworks? Total burnout. Like, melted to the ground."
"Yeah," I said, walking over. "Crazy stuff. Probably a gas leak."
"Richie thinks it was the Clown," Lucas whispered, rolling his eyes.
"Richie thinks everything is the Clown," I said. "Even his bad grades."
"Hey!" Richie shouted from across the room. "I heard that! And I'm getting a B-minus, thank you very much!"
[ Location: Vivan's Bedroom - Night ][ Time: 10:00 PM ]
I sat at my desk, looking at my stats.
[ Reality Warping: Proficiency 1% ][ Hive Mind Control: Proficiency 2% ][ Fear Eater: Active (Passively absorbing Mom's anxiety about the news). ]
"I have the power of a Cosmic level Character," I muttered, spinning a pen with my mind. "And the control of a baby."
I looked at my desk lamp.
'Let's try one more thing. Reality Warping. Turn off the light.'
I didn't want to use the switch. That was too mundane. I wanted to will the light to cease. To rewrite the state of the bulb from 'On' to 'Off'.
I focused.
'Darkness.'
POP.
The light didn't turn off. The lightbulb vanished. It didn't break; it just ceased to exist. Gone. Deleted from the timeline.
The room plunged into darkness.
"Oops," I whispered to the empty room. "I deleted the bulb."
I sighed, leaning back in my chair and staring into the dark.
"I really need a manual for this stuff."
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