THE MOMENT
"What's the catch?" Sergio asked. Everything about the last 15 minutes seemed too good to be true. He was walking through the park daydreaming about having Super powers one day. He wished there could be a subscription service for them. Superpowers were common enough in the world, and subscription services were all the rage. He grumbled aloud that some enterprising genius hadn't filled that niche yet. And just like that, a stranger approached him from out of nowhere.
The teenager with dark brown curls on his head introduced himself as Aurelio Luna and asked for a moment of Sergio's time. They sat on an aluminum park bench as Aurelio explained his pitch. Sergio listened eagerly until Aurelio mentioned the price.
"No catch," the teen shook his head. "It was your idea. And, as long as you start sending people my way, you keep your powers for free."
"Waitwaitwait...," Sergio glanced at the transparent card between them. It looked like simple glass. "You're saying you just happen to have the tech to create a Superpower subscription service out of thin air... just because you heard me thinking about it?" Aurelio nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "I got fired from my job recently; but, I've been keeping my eyes open for new opportunities and one just fell in my lap," he chuckled. "Since I'm making it up now, I don't have anything organized yet. If you don't want to help me, I'll give someone else free powers for advertising and testing."
"Testing?" Sergio asked. He wanted superpowers that were ready to go; he didn't want to be a guinea pig.
"Yeah," Aurelio picked up the glass card and held it up.
[La Calavera!] Sergio heard a deep voice echo in the air and a flash of gold light came from the card. The card was gone after Sergio blinked. Aurelio reached for one corner of the table and folded it over itself effortlessly.
"I only used them for myself, so I've gotta do some balancing if other people are going to start using them. They're currently too strong. And, I need to streamline the User Interface to skip the AlterNet login."
"What?" He was confused; but, the question was sincere. Sergio didn't understand what he was talking about. But, he really wanted superpowers and he was willing to learn whatever he needed to make it happen.
"I guess technically they're not superpowers?" he shrugged. "It's more like repurposing game skills. Like, if I wanted to give someone the power to heal themselves, I can change around a regeneration spell a little bit. I guess if there was 'a catch' that would be it. It doesn't really affect you."
"Huh?" Sergio was left more puzzled than he was moments ago. "What game? How does that give people abilities in the real world?"
"Well, it doesn't," Aurelio chuckled. "It only works in the game." Sergio tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Aurelio. "But, I never would have thought of selling skills to NPCs," he chuckled. "And, I never would have imagined an NPC giving me that idea either."