“Get out of here, kid,” a gruff and old voice stated. The man quickly moved on after dropping it off.

My dinner slid but, but underneath was something new. A small book slid into my cell. I stared at it, uncertain about what was going on.

That voice belonged to old man Jenkins. The head security officer of this place. He never did anything against the rules.

He was firm but fair. Usually. He was also like us, a man subjected to the rules of the institution.

I stared at the book as the man’s footfalls quickly faded. Even with the keen hearing, one learns to hone, Jenkins did not linger.

How odd. I stared at the book. At what it could represent.

I snorted at my hesitation. What else could they do to me? With anxiety flowing in my blood, I slid off my cot and grabbed the book.

It was smooth. New. Even the plastic cover was still on it.

Flashes of feelings and places filled my senses. Six facilities, and a dozen people. A sense of a warehouse? Storage? Then a vague need to deliver.

I only got to touch new books. Nothing that anyone had ever handled beyond heavy packaging.

I enjoyed even those momentary flashes. A world that I had lost when I got adopted from the orphanage. When my parents died because of a drunk driver.

I pulled off the plastic wrap and opened the plain-looking book. My face lit up as I recognized it. Not a book. A mini tablet computer. They never allowed me to have free use of one. Though I interacted with them often.

No one dared to meet me face to face.

My eyes narrowed as I spied the only app on this thing. A simple green icon. I touched it. It loaded and my thoughts died as I couldn’t process what I was seeing.

Comics. So many comics. Dozens? Hundreds? All of it here and at my fingertips.

This was something that they would never allow me to have. What was Jenkins doing giving me this?

Inside this tablet were worlds that I had never thought possible. I lost track of time, and through it, I changed.

—

[Inventory] I thought.

A transparent screen appeared before me. Beside it was a set of filters and categories to make my life easier.

Inside this was my prized possession. The Jenkin Tablet. A gift that had changed everything. There were other things. Insignificant items like a handful of water. Bits of bread. Entire meals that I had stored away.

I was still thankful that the Inventory System could perfectly preserve anything I put into it. None spoiling food was amazing.

[Waaaaaahhhh!] [Weee-ooo!] [Weee-ooo!] [Weee-ooo!]

The alarm system. I frowned. They had discovered my empty cell already.

I jogged through the hallways, now lit in a red glow.

From the thought I had gleaned from the guards, this would make me glow. Their special sunglasses would make it easy to spot.

Regardless, I moved. My footfalls were soft as I jogged.

My [Conceal] skill was already at max, and I just leaned into the shadows to hide. Though the requirements were my lack of movement, to begin with.

If they saw me before I activated my skill, then I was in trouble.

The locked doors were annoying, but I had enhanced my physical stats to compensate for this day. I could physically break through the ‘normal’ triple-reinforced doors. The vault-like doors I ignored as I broke through to an emergency stairwell.

It was not on any maps, but the senior guards knew of it. Telepathy was such a superb skill.

[Flight] activated, and I shot up into the empty central area. A kill zone where heavily armed and armored guards could rain down bullets.

I wondered if they had ever used it. Did they ever have anyone besides me here? A single man who had nearly a thousand specialists on-site to oversee?

They didn’t have my powers. Untested Omnipotence. They never gave me enough materials to feed off of. To shift my perspective. Until Jenkin’s odd betrayal.

He broke the rules. He gave me power and freedom.

Why?

I broke through the stairwell’s doors. They were far more simple as it designed to let people in, not keep them down. Which was odd? Did they ever consider…

Oh.

I stared at the doors before me. I floated over and knocked. It was like tapping my knuckles against the floor. Dense.

[Status] I thought to myself.

[James]

[Subject X105]

[Level 88]

[HP: 15,284]

[EP: 121,837]

[Body: 115]

[Mind: 368]

[Spirit: 224]

[Skills: 164]

I punched the door, and the resounding gong proved that I was strong. I was also only able to dent the metal barrier and bruise my fist. My body stat controlled my physical form. Stats would appear ranging from strength to dexterity, and odd ones like recovery.

My light injuries healed in moments.

While I had many skills, most of them were passive things. I didn’t have enough references to gain more. I needed more information to grow. To learn. To understand.

Why was I here? What was the reason for locking me in this place?

I looked around, and my [Sight] skill found them. Cameras. I broke them as I made my way back down the stairway. I cleared several rooms. Then returned to the top.

[Conceal]

I used [Cling] to stick myself to the roof. Slightly off the center of the middle of the room, but in full view of the front door.

Then I waited.

—

Hours. I used [Meditate]. Another great and handy skill. It used all of my core stats and granted me some incredible boons. I could ‘sleep’ or rest in a few hours. 8 hours in 3 hours. My Health and Energy stats kicked into recovery and in 8 hours I could regain my full stats. It also cleared debuffs.

It also made patience a simple thing.

[CRACK!]

[Clunk] [Clunk] [Clunk] [Clunk] [Clunk]

The heavy gears unlocked and moved. I opened my eyes.

The doors opened enough for a man to walk through. A dozen men entered.

I ignored them. Their heavy armors and big guns.

They tossed in grenades and those exploded into bright lights and extreme sounds. It hurt. My concentration fluctuated.

My [Meditate] held firm and though I took health damage, I did not budge.

I eyed the outside world. They lined a defensive set of tanks right outside the door. Floodlights filled the room from the outside. There were no extra lights from beyond that.

[Clunk] [Clunk] [Clunk] [Clunk] [Clunk] [BOOM!]

The door closed with a promise of immobility.

I smirked as a dozen men swept through the room and headed down.

I waited for a half-hour, as they slowly made their way down to the empty floor. Well, almost empty.

The new prisoners were probably angry at being locked in the washrooms, but at least they had water and a place to relieve themselves. I had piled desks to lock them in. Heavy piles of desks and other office furniture.

I stared at where the tanks were. Where they had cast deep shadows. I understood how tanks were shaped. I could use this.

I smiled. Even if they shot at me, I had a genuine chance of escape.

I pulled my energy to one of my favorite skills. [Shadow Step]

I took a step into the darkness and stepped out to freedom.

—

The hotdog was delicious. The freshly grilled sausage. The semi-stale bread. The lackluster condiments. Nicely grilled onions.

The full package was very satisfying. I continued my walk as I ate.

People. People everywhere.

I knew that there were a lot of us humans, but this was crazy.

I made my way over to an alley before I used [Invisibility] and vanished from sight.

[Flight] lifted me up, but I had to be careful. The ketchup and mustard could still fly out and splatter against my clothes. Stains were a pain even with a [Clean] skill.

The world blurred as I finished my hotdog and cranked my flight to half power. I skimmed through the air, and I followed the major highway.

Jenkins was a retired government employee. He had left to return to his small hometown to settle down with his grandkids.

It had taken a lot of trial and error. Several times they had tracked me down. The network of cameras in cities and towns made it easy to see me. So they sent in people.

Section 8 was no joke.

They knew I was out and about, but not understanding my destinations or motivations.

I had to track Jenkins down the hard way. Read people’s minds and go from there.

Which had me looking in all the small towns in Utah.

Curiosity had me looking. The freedom of the natural lands kept me going.

—

Cedar City.

On the outskirts was a small suburban community. There Roy Jenkins was having a BBQ with his family.

I found the man entirely by accident. I was buying lunch when I saw him crossing the street. He seemed like I recalled. Calm, collected, and observant.

I marked him with my [Target] skill. It would allow me to either track the man or have my elemental attacks home in on him.

I finished my food and left.

One [Invisibility] and [Flight] combo later, I found his property on the edges of a developing community.

The old man smiled and laughed as he ate with his family. Checked their status windows though their information was not as helpful as I would have liked. I needed to develop it more, but it was slow going.

There was one that caught my eyes. A young 10-year-old girl.

[Stacy Jenkins]

[Dying]

I left him for now.

I would eat first. There was an interesting Italian place I had passed.

Then I would return to talk to the man.

—

“Hello Mister Jenkins,” I said as the man walked into the kitchen. Gun trained on me.

“James,” the man answered and lowered his weapon. If his guess was right, then the weapon was useless now.

“I wanted to thank you, but I also wanted to know. Why?” I asked as I motioned for him to sit down.

Jenkins sighed as he did so. He looked like the old man he now was.

“They were keeping you chained down…” Jenkins began.

I gave him a look. He sighed again.

“Stacy… she… she needs your help,” Jenkins admitted. He didn’t care about the man before him. Not until recently.

“Done,” I said as I stood up. “Regardless of this request, thank you, Roy.”

The old man nodded. He sighed as his world was going to end. Section 8 would know of this meeting by morning.

If it was for Stacy, however… his death would be worth it.

“When you wake up, Stacy will be fine. I hope your retirement is relaxing old man,” I smiled and used the [Sleep] skill.

It was harder, as it connected me through the [Astral Walk] skill. The EP drain was a few thousand, but it was worth it.

Unless Jenkins talked, we had no traceable meeting.

I had stopped by this random town and then moved on. By morning, I would be in the Capital. Salt Lake City was the biggest and probably the focal point for good food.

I would spend a few days relaxing and then vanish to another state. Idaho and then Canada.

Let’s see how Section 8 deals with international travel.

—

Roy Jenkins laughed and cried as he held Stacy in his arms.

The little girl was laughing and crying.

His son and daughter-in-law were a part of the group hug.

Stacy’s results had come back. The cancer had gone into regression.

The treatment had finally begun working, and Stacy was unusually recovering at a strong speed. It was practically a miracle. Like if we had developed the treatment just for her.

Roy knew better, however.

James had done it and masked his intervention.

How he would never know. What he knew was that it was worth it.

Though a part of him shook. He had unleashed an Omnipotent being onto the world. Jame’s very perception warped reality to fit his own views.

It was only the fact that he was desperate that he had done anything to help at all.

“Let's go get ice-cream, Grandpa!” Stacy yelled as her eyes glazed over the thought of Grandpa’s allowance of her orders. She could get three scoops and all the toppings! Chocolate!

“Of course!” Roy said with a smile, and the parents nodded along. The good news had overridden their odd new-age parenting ideals. Which wasn’t far from how they got raised.

—

Stacy had her hands linked with her parents. She swung with them as they made their way to the best ice-cream parlor in town. Rockwell Ice Cream.

Roy smiled as they entered the store. His eyes automatically scanning the people inside. Two young women were already taking the kid's orders, and their hearts melted as Stacy said she was going to be cancer-free soon.

Roy chuckled at Stacy’s not so innocent statement. She wanted more ice cream and had long since learned that she could get an extra scoop by playing the cancer card.

Then he saw him.

James was finishing his second cup. A chocolate-based ice-cream.

The man looked up, and their eyes met. James winked and polished off his dessert.

James threw the cups into the trash and walked out as if they didn’t meet. No words.

That was the last time he saw the Omnipotent James. Though it was not the last time, he heard about the godlike man.