THE MOMENT
"And finally for little baby Smith...," Nurse Mundo looked down at the half-awake child in his bassinet. "...thank you for waiting so patiently, little one," the middle-aged woman caressed its forehead with a sigh. "...I've determined you will be joining the Chromatic guild."
"He's Chromatic? Are you sure??" the newest pediatric nurse had been assisting Mundo on her rounds. Her main purpose was to arrange Mundo's Determinations into the right wards. But, she hesitated as she reached for baby Smith.
"It's already been determined," Mundo nodded. "Is there an issue?" she asked.
"No Ma'am, sorry," The nurse shook her head as she gently collected the baby. "I'm a friend of the Smith family and, well, that was kind of the last thing they wanted.
"I understand your concern," Mundo nodded. "Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do after the fact. Try to keep that in mind in the future," she added.
"Yes, Nurse Mundo," the pediatric nurse nodded, then jetted out of the room with baby Smith. Now, finally, Nurse Mundo was alone and luckily, at the end of her shift. Despite the constant work, she appreciated quiet moments like this. She stood alone in a white room full of empty bassinets.
"Nurse Mundo?" The voice startled her at the same time someone knocked on the nursery door. She spun around to see a young athletic man in his early 20s. As soon as her eyes were on him, he looked up and down the hall, then stepped into the room. He closed the door behind him; then made quick work of lowering the blinds.
"Can I help you?" Nurse Mundo asked as he returned to the door and blocked her exit.
"Yeah," he nodded as he pulled a gun out from behind his back. He raised it in her direction without actually aiming at her. "Give me a Superpower," he said.
"First of all, no," Mundo shook her head. "Second of all, did you think I was powerless like you?" she smiled as the white tiles at his feet cracked and gave way under his weight. He threw his hands up and lost the gun as he fell; but, he only made it about half-way. In a split second, he was buried waist-deep in thick black mud. He tried to pull himself up; but, the ground under his arms also became sludge. She walked over to collect the gun, then carried it to the sunken man. By the time she reached him, she dropped a dirt ball on the ground in front of him with the grip of the gun only just visible.
"So..., what's your problem?" she asked as she let herself fall back. She was caught by a chair-shaped wooden stump that sprouted out of the ground.
"YOU!" the man shouted angrily at first. But, Mundo didn't react and after a moment, his mind finally caught up to his new situation. "All of you Supers treating those of us without powers like we're somehow less!" he answered with a quieter tone; but, the anger in his voice was apparent. "You call us "Chromatic" like that makes it any better." Mundo shrugged as she smiled down at him.
"You'll find jerks in any setting," she said. "I still don't know what that has to do with me; but, I do find it rather telling that your solution is to get power for yourself."
"You're the DETERMINER!" the man replied. "That's what it has to do with you. You're going to give me power...," he said. "And, MY FRIENDS TOO!!" he yelled. Two seconds after his retort, his expression changed into one of sudden fear.
"They're not coming, dear," Mundo smiled. "Once you surprised me, I took the time to see who else was in the hospital that shouldn't be; they're asleep now."
"But, I think it's a good thing you came. We'll call this a learning experience for you," she said. "Let's start with your disdain for the 'Chromatic' label. That's all it is," she shrugged. "A helpful label to help keep things organized. I initially started it as an intra-office term; but, it's found its way into common speech with a very unfortunate connotation somehow."
"Somehow!?" the man laughed obnoxiously. "You deliberately skipped our Superpowers! We're weaker because of you!"
"Well, that's where I'm going to have to disagree with you, Mr. Ruiz," Mundo replied. The man froze when she used his name.
"How do you know me?" He was briefly distracted from the mission. Just how many Superpowers did Mundo have?
"I am the spirit of the Earth, Mr. Ruiz," she grinned. "I can know anything I want; I generally don't make a habit of spying on other's minds but you did point a gun at me."
"Now, I'm afraid my workday is done and I really am anxious to get home," Mundo said. She stood from her seat and the stump disintegrated into white powder that covered the floor and left the tiles whole again. "So, let's knock this out quick, okay?" she asked him with an encouraging nod. But, trying to keep track of her nodding head only made him dizzy as the ground pushed him up and out. Once he was in front of her, she showed him a transparent glass card.
Walter Ruiz was glad to be out and seemingly consequence-free; but, he was still offended.
"I don't want your stupid Chromatic I.D. card!" he grumbled. "We all threw ours away and I'll just throw that one away too."
"Oh god...," Mundo shook her head. "..THIS is why I don't go poking around in people's minds; the stupidity out there just isn't good for my sanity," she said.
"Look at this and pay attention," she said. She held up the card, then with her other hand she made an exaggerated gesture to touch the glass with her other hand. She ever so slightly pushed up and the card changed from transparent to a gold and chrome home screen with a handful of icons. "I swear, you people hear the word 'Chromatic' and just give up thinking you got the short end of the stick. At least that explains why so many parents in the Chromatic guild have been skipping orientation," she sighed.
"What is this?" Walter was at a loss. His parents raised him to resent being given the 'Chromatic' label. He threw away his still-sealed I.D. card when his parents gave it to him. He never touched it and now wondered what else he was missing.
"It's called a node," Mundo said. "It's not an I.D. card so much as it is a Superpower Voucher of sorts."
"Huh?" Walter asked with a tilted head.
"'Chromatic' is the most ideal situation for any newborn," Mundo said. "Yes, you start out powerless; but, if you follow the tutorial on the node you actually get to choose your powers from a list. They're given to us by a company named Chroma Corp., so I thought the word 'Chromatic' had a nice ring to it," Mundo shrugged.
"You're lying!" Walter shook his head. "You're the Determiner! Everyone knows you give out the powers!"
"That's another thing I should probably change...," Mundo sighed. "This whole time I thought it was self-explanatory; but, I guess not." Mundo met Walter's eyes.
"This is the extent of me 'giving' Superpowers...," she said as she pressed the node against his chest. "I wouldn't dream of choosing powers for a newborn, that's why you can choose for yourself once you're old enough. Everyone that's not Chromatic is already born with a Superpower. I just determine if they have one and what it is."