"A flying turkey? What the hell Jack?"

Jessie is angry. This is bad. An angry Jessie can lay waste to kingdoms. What's more, she isn't shocked like everyone else. She is just upset.

"I said superhero, didn't I? I don't think flying turkeys are outside the realm of superheroes."

Jessie's phone buzzes as she gets a text. She sighs and just collapses back into her chair.

"What in the hell is going on!" Oops. I think I broke Mom. Dad seems to be inspecting the flight path as if the turkey had a zip line or something.

"You explain to your parents here. I'll explain to mine in the living room. Don't go anywhere." She sure is getting bossy. Maybe it's because she seems to have a clue what's going on. I've lost all control of the situation.

After a dazed looking John and Marie get dragged off to the living room, dad pipes up. "Did you make that turkey fly?"

Thinking about that quest notice, I squirm in my seat a bit. This is what I wanted, someone to unambiguously believe in the supernatural, and that I had some kind of power. Now all I can think of is how to make sure they don't tell anyone.

"You can't tell anyone." Stick to the classics.

"Jack Ambrose Webb, you answer me this instant! Did you make that turkey fly?"

"Yes, Mom." This food smells delicious. I have a spoon of potatoes halfway to my mouth before the combined stares of my parents nearly sever my hand at the wrist. Sheepishly, I put the potatoes back on my plate.

Ok, serious talk time. "Mom, Dad, you really can't tell anyone. I need you to swear it."

"The Bennetts already know! Jessie seems to have some idea what's going on, and we don't know anything other than our son has ESP or something!" Mom is about to blow a gasket and dad seems to have latched onto the ESP comment and is trying to send me thoughts telepathically.

"You remember, like ten seconds ago when I told you my power tells me to do things sometimes? Well, it's telling me to make sure to keep this secret. It's also kind of threatening everyone who doesn't keep quiet about it."

"The voices in your head are threatening us now? If this was supposed to be a secret why did you pull this right in the middle of Thanksgiving!"

"Well, I didn't know it was supposed to be secret. Now that I know, obviously I won't have turkeys flying around. Also, not voices, blue message boxes that give quests. I'm supposed to salvage the situation and keep the secret."

A thoughtful silence descends.

I was just about to snag a bite of those potatoes when Jessie storms in.

She glares at me. "They are sleeping. It'll be a couple minutes before the memory charm takes full effect. Now, you are obviously an idiot so I'll deal with you last." Jessie turns to my parents. "How much did Jack tell you?"

"He doesn't seem to know anything." Typical Dad.

"Of course he doesn't. He just endangered everyone here. There are people, very powerful people who do not want this kind of thing to become public knowledge. And they have the means to keep it secret." She slumps down in her chair again, this time fiddling with her phone before looking up again and speaking as if giving a presentation.

"You two have to make a decision. You can choose to forget this ever happened. I can help you forget. It's safe. It's effective. Most importantly, it keeps you nearly completely safe from the more crazy things that go on in this world. And if you choose not to forget, those crazy things might come looking for you."

My parents look at each other and you can just see how more words than you could fit in a book pass between them in an instant. They turn back to us, determined. Dad speaks first.

"You want us to leave you two alone to deal with this?"

I think again of the quest. Failure means I'll be hunted and they could die. Sealing their memories or whatever it is Jessie can do will protect them. And me.

"I want you to be safe, and if this is the only way..."

"It's not the only way," Jessie cuts in. "You can sign a binding contract. It will keep the secret, and if Jack plays along, give you a good deal of protection. You would still have to keep the secret from my parents, but you and Jack and everyone else in the know can talk about it."

"Why did John and Marie choose to forget? How do you know so much about this?" Mom asks.

"I was born with more memories than one life affords. This isn't the first life I've lived, and I've picked up a few tricks along the way." She gestures, and glowing pictographs, what I think are runes, appear in the air. The lights flicker, and then the runes disappear. Well, it's something, but it's no flying turkey.

"I've seen what happens when people without gifts get pulled into the hidden side of worlds. I was able to keep the secret from my parents until I remembered how to modify their memories. I told them about my old lives, how many parents I've personally lost when they made the choice to remember. If you choose to forget you can be there for him, and live perfectly ordinary lives."

"But we can't really be there for him, not fully. You, apparently, have your past lives to fall back on, but Jack is doing this for the first time, and he obviously doesn't have a clue what's going on."

"Hey!"

"You know it's true honey. You botched this pretty badly. We want to be here for you, and help. Especially if it's as dangerous as it sounds."

Dad chimes in. "We want to remember."

"I had figured you would. Just a sec." She pulls her phone back out and hits some buttons hidden from us. She barely has put her phone away before a black SUV pulls up. A man in a black suit with sunglasses walks up to the front door and passes an envelope through the slot.

"LucidTech isn't a regular company. And as an employee, I'm watched very closely. They knew the moment Jack pulled his little stunt. She gestures and the envelope flies to her hand. These are binding contracts for the three of you. Laura, Frank, you need to sign yours now. You can change your mind later and have your memories erased, but it will but substantially more difficult for everyone involved. Minor brain damage is not uncommon." Jessie turns to me. "Your contract is a little different. We get to be co-workers."

Quest 'Salvage The Situation' Complete! Inventory Unlocked!

* * *

The food, strangely enough, is still perfect. I finally got my bite of potatoes and they were as warm as if they just came from the kitchen. I kind of expected this, but wasn't entirely sure. Maybe it's my new skill? I'll have to check later.

A few minutes after Jessie collected all the signed papers, her parents come back in apologizing for taking a nap just before dinner was ready. It really does seem like they have no recollection of the past...has it only been 15 minutes? Wow. Conversation around the table is a little subdued. Four of us 'in the know' with only Jessie's parents on the outside. Awkward.

Eventually, everyone comes to praise my culinary skills, and talk about our first semester in college. I talk about classes and the increased workload, and wonder exactly what kind of schooling Jessie has been getting. Not seeing her around makes a little more sense, as does LucidTech hiring a freshman.

Talk dies down as we all enjoy a perfect meal. I don't think we've ever stuffed ourselves quite as much as we all did this year. Working with quality ingredients has brought my cooking to a whole different level. I may be spending some of that extra money on groceries after all. The Bennetts shuffle off to the living room to watch the game as my parents and I clear the table. I see them sneaking glances at each other, but they seem to be aware of how serious the situation is, as not even whispers escape the kitchen.

All of us settle into a food coma while the game goes on. Half-time is underwhelming as usual. The game doesn't go into overtime and there is no real surprise about the winner. Everyone is still exhausted as it grows late. I'm supposed to spend the night here at home, but Jessie tells her parents she has plans for a get together with friends. The Bennets are leaving when dad cracks a joke about Jessie needing to one-up my cooking next year. This earns him a glare from Jessie and Mom.

About an hour later Jessie shows up again at the back door. Now that we aren't in a crisis she looks much more relaxed. We pull the shades in the living room and pile onto the sofas.

"Ok, without flying poultry this time, Jack, tell me everything you know about your power." She even has her phone out like she's going to be taking notes.

"You seem like you've done this before," I dryly comment.

"I did tell you this isn't the first life I've lived."

"Does that mean you are older than everyone here?"

"Ah, well, no. Some get a full lifetime of memories from birth, and then there are the types like me. I gain about a day worth of memories from each of my past lives when I sleep."

"That must be uncomfortable during puberty." Nice dad. Real nice.

Jessie ignores the remark. Probably some uncomfortable truth there. "Enough about me. Since we are working together you'll learn as time goes by. Tell me how you made dinner fly from the kitchen."

"Well, I have a cooking skill. A certain percentage of my meals are literally perfect. They won't allow themselves to be less than perfect. And perfect means a few things, such as coming out of the oven and getting put on a plate."

Everyone is looking at me strangely. Jessie looks like she's going to be sick.

"You said superhero. Where is the superhero in cooking!"

"Come on, that's a little unreasonable. You tasted that meal. It was heavenly." I could still taste the meal. I needed to brush my teeth.

"SUPERHERO! I put myself on the line for you and this is what I get?!"

"Well, there are a few other things that I can do."

"There better be! Now, start talking." The cell phone comes back up.

"I can run faster than I could before."

"Super speed, that's great, why didn't you start with that?"

"Well, not that much faster...maybe like twice as fast?"

The cell phone is put away. "Jack, I put a lot on the line with my company to put you and your family under protection. I want every last detail. Now."

It turns into a late night. I demonstrate the cooking thing again. I explain the quests I've gotten, and what I've done with the money. How I'm getting stats, and how 'the tutorial' ended at dinner. The most exciting part for me was the inventory. That was new. A different variety of blue box. I could put things into the box, and they just disappeared. I could pull them back out and it was like they had been frozen in time. I could smuggle drugs!

"You can't smuggle drugs." Dad knows me so well.

"This is why we need to be around," says Mom.

"I won't let him smuggle drugs," says Jessie. Now I have a babysitter. This is embarrassing.

"Anyway, these are fairly impressive for one month of work. We'll have to see if there is a plateau, but you could be very powerful in time."

"I haven't been...working...exactly. Unless you count the cooking. I've been abusing the hell out of that cooking. Mostly I've just been trying to ignore the whole thing."

"You have powers that make you stronger and you ignored them? Are you lazy or stupid?" Is she tired? She is getting cranky.

"Yes." Thanks, Mom.

"This is why we need to be around," says Dad.

* * *

It's too late for more questions, so Jessie sneaks back out and presumably goes back to her off campus apartment. I head up to my room and parse through some of the blue boxes that came today.

Gaming The System Level 1 (31%)

Like cheaters everywhere, you have learned to break the rules. Greater chance for favorable outcomes on using stats and skills in unintended fashions.

Charisma +1, Luck +3

Cooking Skill Increased In Level!

Hmm. Meta-gaming eh? Looks like all that time I spent playing games in my youth may pay off. The more I break the rules, the easier it will be to break them more. Of course, like everyone said, I'll need to work on my stats and skills to make the best use of it. Now that I have people who believe in me, maybe I can train out in the open some. I don't want to attract professional interest, but maybe LucidTech has some kind of facility if I get to that level.

I hadn't seen the luck stat before. Maybe that's something new since the tutorial is gone.

It's been a long day. I should be tired. I lay in bed looking at the ceiling and all the glowing star stickers. Still not tired.

This is weird. I can tell it's past eleven, and I've been up since near dawn. It's been a busy day. Maybe I just need to clear my mind so I can drift off. I picture each event of the day, every worry, and flick them into the void one by one until there's nothing left but me doing the flicking. Then I flick myself out into the void and slumber overtakes me.

* * *

Mom and Dad are way too perky this morning. They are enjoying their coffee and seem to want to get the jump on me by being up with the sunrise. After my trouble getting to sleep so late, I should be dead on my feet, but I feel well rested. Dad looks a little disappointed that I'm not half asleep.

"Come on superhero, we've got a workout waiting." He practically drags me out the back door for a fast paced jog through the woods.

Did I mention my parents were health nuts? This fast paced jog turns into a long grueling march. One thing it is great for is my vitality and agility. I am noticeably faster by the end of the jog compared to the beginning. I end up walking for most of the second hour. My runners high has come and gone, then come and gone again. I can tell dad is holding back to keep pace with me. We finally get back to the house and Mom is there waiting in her exercise clothes.

"Oh, you thought you were done?" They both grin.

"After yesterday you should have seen this coming." I really hadn't. Two hours of exercise was beyond my normal limit. I wasn't completely unfit. I put in an hour every few days, and walked most wherever I went. But this was promising to be more than "not unfit" exercise. Now Mom is dragging me to the workout room.

Free weights, free weights everywhere. Some various machines that look like they came from going out of business sales. This is the strength workout. Even a bicycle for my already-burning legs. An hour later I feel like I'm made of rubber and they let me go.

The whole ordeal unlocked a new stat. Transcend. The box said something about willpower and going beyond your limits. I didn't get the details, I was too focused on controlling my breathing, which was another skill I unlocked. By the end of Mom's turn at torture, I was ready to lounge for the rest of the day.

Jessie was in the living room. I immediately dropped to the floor and just laid there. "Nope. Not again. You can't make me."

Jessie waved her hand vaguely in my direction and I felt a shock run through my arm. Holy shit that hurt! "Ow!" Not made of rubber.

"I could make you, but we've already tested your physical limits. Now we test your mental and more esoteric limits." All three of them had planned this. They were working together. I knew they were upset...ok, angry, about how I went about the grand reveal, the danger I put them all in, the Thanksgiving I had just about ruined, and how lazy I had been about the whole superpowers thing, but...

"I don't deserve this."

Oh the look on their faces. Evidently, they disagree.

Skill 'Danger Sense' Unlocked!