章 574: 13
Date:
2011 January 7th - Friday - Earth Bet Time
Watching her dad sit across her was heartbreaking. With every breath, he seemed to collapse more and more into himself. She was about to speak up when he beat her to it.
"I need to apologize to you Taylor," he began, "I've been a terrible father."
Taylor wanted to contradict him. To tell him it wasn't true. She hated to see him so defeated. Even though on the inside, she agreed with him. But again, before she could speak up and probably utter some nonsense platitude, her father raised his hand.
"Just listen, please, for now," he said, his eyes boring into hers pleadingly.
She numbly nodded in understanding and leaned back into the sofa.
"When I got the call that they took you to the hospital, it scared me." he began again. His eyes now looking everywhere but at her, "But when the doctor told me how lucky you were, and you only had to stay for a little while, I felt relieved."
"Then I was horrified because my next thought was that I need to get back to work."
Taylor could only stare.
"So clearly there was something wrong with me. To ignore my own daughter. It shouldn't be possible." he continued. He then paused, took a deep breath as if he was forcing himself to talk. Taylor didn't dare to interrupt him.
He started again, almost whispering. "I talked to a therapist. She pointed out a few things, and well, I wasn't thrilled about them."
Despite everything, Taylor was a little happy hearing that. She long ago knew that her father needed a therapist. But she also knew he was incredibly stubborn, so she didn't even dare to suggest. Lest she broke the already tenuous bond between them after her mother's death.
"She prescribed me a few things, and I have a weekly appointment with her." he finally looked at her in the eyes, "and with time, I hope you will forgive me for what I have become."
She didn't really know what to say to that. Intellectually, it was amazing to hear her father finally getting the help he so needed. But emotionally she couldn't help but resent him for not getting it earlier. When she actually needed him.
Before she could formulate an answer, he continued, now a little happier.
"Also, while I was waiting for you to wake up, I went around and arranged a few things."
At Taylor's quizzical look, he just continued. "I talked to a lawyer friend, who will come talk to us and see if he could help with our case."
That caught her attention. Her own research always showed that there was nothing they could do. But now, maybe with a professional looking at it, things would change. She hoped the lawyer would able to provide at least some help. Because she feared it would crush her father's healing in its infancy if it turns out he couldn't help.
The next sentence however doused her enthusiasm.
"For that, you would need to tell me, and him what happened," he said apologetically.
She frantically looked around. Hoping that something would catch her attention that would allow her to distract Danny. But the only thing of interest she saw was Admin behind her father, rapidly nodding his head in agreement.
Defeated, she looked back at her father, who was looking at her worriedly. She hugged herself, closed her eyes.
"Okay," she whispered.
"Don't worry, Taylor, I won't judge." came for her father.
She really wanted to believe him, but some part of her just knew he would hate her for it.
They spent the next few minutes in awkward silence. With his father occasionally sipping from his cup and her hugging herself and trying not to vomit from nervousness.
Finally, after she took control of herself, she spoke up.
"What else did you do?"
"Wha-?" her father looked up quickly, and a little confused.
"You said, that you arranged a few things," she explained. "that was one."
"Oh, right!" Danny exclaimed. "Sorry Taylor, I was a million miles away."
She only raised an eyebrow as an answer. She noticed she has been using it a lot since she woke up in the hospital. It seemed effective.
Danny smiled ruefully at her. "I talked with your school. They were remarkably unhelpful."
Taylor snorted. "That's not surprising."
"Indeed. So I told them irrespective of what happens, you are as of now homeschooled. They didn't really argue with me about it." He seemed rather smug about it.
Now it was Taylor's turn to be confused.
"Why would I need to become homeschooled?"
Her dad just sighed. "Taylor, I obviously have no idea what happened, but the way the school reacted, told me enough. You need a better school." he smiled at that, then continued, "So for the rest of the year, you will stay home. And then over the summer, we will arrange for a place at the better school."
She could only gape at hearing that. Was that so easy? All she had to do is to ask her father to call the school and bam, she was homeschooled? No, that couldn't be!
"Really?" she asked skeptically. "That's all it took?"
"Usually no," he answered. "But your father has some friends who can help out if he asks."
He even gave her a cheesy wink and grin after saying that. Taylor couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. She really wanted to ask who those friends were, but contained herself for now.
"We still have to go over some paperwork and stuff. But I hope Steve could help with that too."
"Steve?"
"My lawyer friend."
"Oh." was the only thing she could answer to that.
The conversation died after that again. However, Taylor felt the air was less awkward.
The things she heard were wreaking havoc on her mind. She needed time to process everything, but she knew she still had to talk to her father about what happened. While she felt ashamed, after her father's admission about the therapy, she felt oddly more at peace.
She wasn't really alone with her problems. Now she just had to open her mouth and tell her father.
Maybe she could claim amnesia due to trauma?
While she was once again looking for an excuse, her father spoke up again.
"I know, Taylor, that you are probably angry at me. But I hope we can start over again and be a family," he said determinedly. "It won't be easy. But it would be impossible without you. So please, let's help each other."
Taylor looked back at her father, who was watching her with undisguised hope. Looked at the hovering slime dressed as a cheerleader with a large H on his shirt, bouncing around with pompoms. Took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened her mouth.
"It started when…"
When she returned to her room, she threw herself face down on her bed and tried to will away all the confusion she felt.
On one hand, she felt incredibly relieved that she finally could talk to her father. On the other hand, she felt deeply ashamed about the things she told her father.
To give him credit, he didn't really say anything, just stood up and sat back next to her. Then hugged her while she talked. After she ran out of things to talk about, he told her he loved her and for now, she should go up to her room and relax a little. They would continue tomorrow.
She suspected he was so angry he didn't want her to see him like that. He always had problems with his anger.
So she accepted without saying a word and now was lost on what to do.
"How about trying out your fancy new powers?" came the suggestion from somewhere.
"I don't wanna," she mumbled into her pillow.
"Really?" asked admin skeptically.
"No," she answered while sitting up. Then continued in a much more excited voice. She wanted to forget that the previous discussion even happened. "Let's do this!"
"Very well. I have turned it on. You may proceed."
Taylor looked at herself for a few seconds, looking for something that changed. When she found nothing, she closed her eyes, hoping to sense something.
"Try sensing electricity around you." came the helpful advice.
"How?" she asked angrily.
"Think about sensing it and it will work."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Taylor looked at Admin for a few seconds incredulously. She was pretty sure he was having her on, but still had to ask.
"Just like that?"
"Yes, Taylor, just like that."
She sighed reluctantly and closed her eyes. She thought about sensing electricity, then everything changed.
She could feel something moving around her in weird patterns, some bigger, some smaller, but all flowing in a direction. She even could feel a larger blob around her, but it was different.
If she had to put a word to it, then the things flowing were sharper, like an old television's buzzing. The blob was like very carbonated water, fizzing around. Then she also realized that she was rather stupid, and she was feeling the surrounding electricity.
The electricity ran through the walls following the cables laid there, giving her a rather strange picture of the house. She could even sense the edge of something in the ground outside of the house. Probably out of her range. But even with this, she would never be completely blind in a city.
"That is amazing!" she whispered in awe. "But what is the other blob?"
"Bioelectricity."
"You mean?" she asked.
"Yes. That is your father."
"That's cool. But it seems so fuzzy, how can I really use it?"
"You need to practice," he answered her. "Your brain needs to get used to the influx of information."
"Now let's try another power."
Taylor, still marveling at her new senses, opened her eyes, excited to see what else she could do. "Okay. How do I turn it off? Just will it again?"
"Why would you want to turn it off?"
"To use my other powers?"
"Did you forget? Multitasking," said Admin smugly.
"Oh yeah, I can do that," she exclaimed, even more excited. "How many powers can I run at the same time?"
Admin gave her a very smug smirk that made her want to punch him. "Well, I don't want to toot my own horn, but as many as you want."
"I find that hard to believe," she said skeptically.
Admin nodded in understanding. "Without going into the details, I specialize in multitasking. Other powers are just how I express that." he chuckled a little, then continued. "Did you think the Administrator name was given to me accidentally?"
Taylor nodded and filed away the additional info about powers. Apparently, names are important. She wondered if anyone knew that? She wondered what other powers were named? Maybe she could ask Admin about it later?
She quickly returned her attention to Admin, who, while she blinked, turned into a rainbow slime for some reason. She ignored it.
"What's next?" she asked, all fired up. "Flying?"
"I recommend not flying in your room for the first time," replied Admin wryly.
"However, I have a last surprise for you."
"I hope it won't be like that other surprises…"
"No, this is a good surprise."
Taylor could only sigh and brace herself for whatever nightmare Admin created in an effort to 'help' her. She really needed to look into if the bookstore had a 'How to be Human for Dummies'.
While she was contemplating his oddities, he acquired the teacher's hat again. This time it was rainbow-colored.
"You see," he began, "I noticed you like your hair!"
She just looked back, trying to be as deadpan as possible.
He continued, ignoring her. "So I'm giving you a Changer power."
She took hold of one of her hair strands and raised it before her eyes.
She was relieved to see it still the same deep black and lustrous hair. She was half afraid Admin would turn them into tentacles or something even worse.
"So the Changer power will allow you to change the properties of your hair, including color." he continued ignoring her actions. "I even added an eye color change free of charge."
Still holding her hair, she concentrated a little. The hair turned sky-blue. Then orange. Then red. And so on, cycling through the colors as fast as she could think of them.
Then she tried different lengths. And styles.
After a few minutes, a small cough broke her out of her experimentation. She looked back guiltily to Admin and gave him a smile.
"Thank you, I really like it."
"I'm glad," he answered happily. "It will come in handy when you want to disguise yourself."
She looked back, confused.
"Your hair is rather distinct."
She nodded proudly, then looked for a mirror. She wanted to see what her hair really looked like with different colors. And she always thought silver eyes were cool.
Finally, after a few minutes of futile search, she gave up and walked over to the bathroom.
She didn't come out until her father called her for dinner.
She woke up to a very familiar scene.
Endless rolling hills, gentle breeze, and a few trees.
"What now?" she yelled out. She was rather looking forward to resting after the emotionally exhausting day.
"Now you train," came the reply from behind her. This time, she only jumped a little.
"Do you really have to do that every time?" she asked angrily.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"It is hilarious."
Taylor closed her eyes, counted to ten, then opened them. "What am I training?"
"Your electrokinesis," he explained, while the scenery changed around them to a featureless gray hall. "You need to get used to them, what they do, how they work. You need to be able to use them instinctively."
She nodded in understanding and walked up to the red circle on the ground that just appeared. "So I have to stand here and shoot at targets?"
Admin nodded with a smile. "Smart cookie. They work the same as your other powers."
"Also, don't think I forgot you didn't tell your father about your powers."
Taylor looked away guiltily. After that talk, she didn't think adding another thing would have been a great idea. Better to leave it for later.
He sighed dejectedly. "You have until Sunday night to tell him."
"Or what?"
"We will see what kind of shapes can I turn your hair into," he answered smugly.
Taylor swallowed, touched her hair nervously, and nodded. "Got it."
"Good."
"Now, prepare yourself for a grand battle against unmoving targets!" he exclaimed as if he was some kind of announcer for a wrestling match.
She turned towards the wall facing her and stretched out her hand.
Several human-like targets appeared, all of them suspiciously looking like Emma and Sophia.
By the time the first lightning bolt struck its target, she was sporting a rather shark-like smile.
It took her only a few seconds to destroy all the targets, but the feeling of exhilaration left her panting.
"That was awesome!" she yelled, throwing her hands up and firing off a few lightning bolts just because she could.
"Yes. The Mighty Taylor defeated the Atrocious Army of Immobile Targets," he said flatly. "Truly one for the history books."
She crossed her arms and pouted at him. "You don't have to be mean."
"But I enjoy being mean," he said while smiling at her. "How about the next level?"
"Sure!" answered Taylor. She couldn't wait to use her new powers.
The next thing she saw was the wall falling to the sides, then vanishing before reaching the ground. She was now standing before a forest. She could even hear a few birds chirping and other forest-like sounds.
She was about to ask Admin about the forest when a basketball-sized clone of her power came bouncing out of the forest. It was the same in every way except the eyes.
While Admin's eyes looked rather cute, they were obviously hiding an inhuman intelligence, with rather questionable motives. The clone's eyes (that were watching her like a hawk) were empty of anything but simple animal intelligence.
And now that she looked, that intelligence looked rather hungry.
"I recommend dodging. They like the taste of human flesh."
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