THE MOMENT
“You're stunning,” Callum smiled in awe and hoped he wasn't being too forward. But he was looking at the loveliest sight he'd ever laid eyes on. The woman had violet-purple hair and matching amethyst eyes. She was striking in her own right, but Callum was more entranced by her aura. She was surrounded by a constellation of sparkling golden stars that only he could see. The rest of the coffee shop patrons around them had no idea anything odd was happening. To the rest of the world, it was a normal sunny afternoon.
“That’s quite a superpower you have there.” Victoria nodded with a smile. Talking with her had been easier than Callum expected from a stranger. He wasn’t even looking to date as much as just hoping to make new friends. He matched with Victoria on an app, and they met for coffee. She asked questions not just about him, but about the world in general. Callum briefly got the impression she was a strange alien not from Earth, but he quickly realized she was just getting his perspective. She was asking about how he saw the world, and he’d never considered that before. The subject of Supers came up, and he casually admitted he had one.
Callum could see and talk to ghosts. At least, that was how he imagined his power to work. He’d seen and talked to ghosts in the past. But the world wasn’t filled with them as one might’ve guessed. They were pretty rare to begin with.
“So, did anyone else in your family get exceptional powers, or is it just you?” she asked.
“Heh.” It was a sad smile. “It’s actually a sore point,” he said. “They refuse to believe I have a power… so I’ve gone no contact.”
“Refuse?” Victoria asked. “It sounds like Supers are very common here with all sorts of unusual powers. Isn’t there any sort of certification process in place?”
“If I wanted to join a League, sure,” Callum nodded. “But, even growing up, they seemed happy to decide early on that I didn’t have any powers and treated me accordingly.” He shrugged and sighed. He hadn’t meant to bring it up, but there it was just the same.
“Eventually, I realized it was a ‘them’ problem, and not a ‘me’ problem. We live in a fantastical world with all kinds of strange happenings. Even if they didn’t believe in ghosts, it would’ve been nice if they believed in me enough to take me to get my powers checked. That was when it struck me. They didn’t care about me at all. They just wanted to be the Super family with the token powerless kid.”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized immediately with another sigh. In the back of his mind, he was happy this wasn’t meant to be a date, but he was also mortified for opening up that much to a stranger. “I guess there are some things I’m still working through.” he gave her a brave, half-hearted smile. “But the point there is, no one believed I could see and talk to ghosts, and even if I can’t, they were never interested in the specifics of what was going on with me. I’ve moved on, living a happier life now without all that doubt.”
“And you do, obviously, have a Superpower.” Victoria nodded with a smile.
“Yeah, how’d you know?” Callum asked. He’d been curious since she first brought it up, but he didn’t want to sound defensive. Now that he’d over-explained some of his history, maybe he could get away with asking more about her.
“I have a similar Ability.” Victoria smiled and met his eyes. Then, brilliant golden stars, like the ones in her aura, appeared in her eyes as she grinned. “I clocked you as a Super on my way in. But now that I know what you can do and how you can turn it on and off, I’d like to offer you a position with the company I work for, Sharp Development.”
“Never heard of them.” Callum shook his head. “Doing what?”
“You wouldn’t have; it’s a multiversal corporation, and we don’t have any branches on this Earth,” she said. “You'll have your pick of jobs to choose from. But, this is an interesting Earth. It's very likely Sharp Development will establish a presence here, and there's a lot of useful info you could provide us.”
“Oh wow, you think?” Callum asked. His head filled with images of finally being so important it was undeniable. Victoria smiled.
“The thing I know for sure is this Earth is full of Supers. It'd be very helpful to have someone tell us which ones to trust or ignore, and which ones are violently dangerous, needing intervention.”
“Me?” Could he?
“You've been ignoring your powers for too long.” Victoria smiled. “Don't worry. Sharp Development will train you up and have you seeing things clearly in no time. “