JASON

« We are running out of time » said sternly the digital voice. A minute or two of silence followed.

« You really need to work on your dramatic effects man, you know they don’t work if people don’t understand you right? » Jason replied, while battling with his of pizza trying not to get the melted mozzarella cheese to fall down the slice.

« Speaking with you sure is an exercise of patience… » Toh Rian sighed, as he felt like he was starting to get a migraine. He really hoped the others wouldn’t be so difficult to talk to. Hopefully they were older, and more mature. But regardless of how difficult it was to deal with the boy, it was something he had to do. For the sake of his mission.

« What I meant to say is that the Chapters count is a countdown. Try to focus on the card, it should appear wherever you are. It usually appears half hidden somewhere in the-»

« I found it! » Jason interrupted the technopath, waving a small white card that he had just taken out of his pocket. He seemed pretty amazed at how it had just appeared in his pocket out of nowhere, much like how his power worked.

« Yeah, I thought so. I wasn’t sure that it would work for the others as well, but it would have been weird if it was something unique to me. Though apparently powers are unique…I have to admit that I was pretty shocked when I saw you disappearing on camera for the first time. I thought you had just wiped the footage, but then why leave the part up to that point? So I just-»

« It says “88 Chapters Left”. Do you know what it means? ». The kid had interrupted Toh Rian again, but this time it felt more calculated. Clearly, he couldn’t stand all the mumbling and rambling of the technopath.

« What I know is that it keeps going down, but there is no regularity in the time interval between each chapter. Sometimes it happens every few days, or even weeks. Other times it is a matter of minutes. »

« Ok but what happens when it goes to zero? » Jason inquired again.

« I am telling you that I don’t know…! » this latest sigh masked a hint of irritation in the digital voice of the man. « I was hoping the man told you something more, but I see that that’s not the case…we should hope that the others will know something else. » once again he seemed to have started talking more to himself than to Jason, but he was cut off by the upset voice of the teleporting kid.

« Wait a second. Did you also meet that man? The old elegant one? Do you know who he is? Also, what do you mean “let’s hope the others will know more”. Am I the first one you talk to? ». Hard to say why he sounded so irritated, but a quick dive through his mind would have revealed that he was just very annoyed by the fact that he wasn’t getting any useful information from that individual. And he had sacrificed a romantic dinner with Bella for this!

« Well, yeah…maybe I did lead you a little bit astray before…but I had to catch your attention. » Toh Rian tried to justify himself. « In any case, I also received my talent from that man. But I don’t know anything about him…I have tried to find him or any information about him, but I couldn’t find anything. So I decided to look for the others Players, thinking that they may know something I didn’t. To be honest I wasn’t even sure that you had received the powers the same way I did, but from your description it seems so. ». Mentioning the “man” was a shot in the dark on his side, but apparently a good one.

« Anyway, you are the first one I could find. As I mentioned there are more than a few recordings of you just popping in and out of places. I ran a face recognition software on a few database and found the match pretty quickly. The hard part was finding where you were, but I did- Hey! Where are you going? ».

Jason stood up, having finished his pizza.

« I would love to stay here and listen to your geek strategies all day. But I really don’t. And it seems like you have nothing useful to tell me, so…well, stay good and I’ll see you never ».

« Wait! Why are you acting like this!? Don’t you see that we have a common interest? We have to find out what that timer is! What if when it goes to zero, we all die? What if it signals the start of a disaster? Or maybe a war? ». Toh Rian was trying his best not to let the boy get away, appearing sequentially on the several screens of the house as Jason jumped around to throw away the pizza box and then drink some orange juice.

« I guess you have a lot of work to do then, right? Your power seems much more suitable to this kind of stuff than mine. Just drop me a message on Insta when you know something else. I am sure you have my account info. »

« Wait! It’s more than that! Haven’t you thought about why you got your powers? Why we received those talents? » he coughed twice, trying to regain his composure and his solemn voice back. « Have you ever heard the phrase… “from great power comes great responsibility” ? I believe that we were given our abilities for a reason. I think that we have an important mission to accomplish…something great and…heroic! We have to team up and join our forces to face the impending challenge! ».

He stopped talking, trying to gauge the boy’s reaction. Jason was staring at the screen with a raised eyebrow.

« So you think we were chosen as some sort of superheroes? And that this chapters countdown may be our “training” period? ».

« Yes…well, maybe. I don’t know. But I think it is very possible! »

« And here I thought I was the kid here! » Jason erupted in a loud laugh. « Listen, man. You should really step outside of your bedroom and live a little. The world is no comic book. There are no superheroes or supervillains, just people trying to make the most of what they get from life. And so should we. ». He finished his beer before continuing.

« And of course I have heard that sentence. It was from some old superhero movie or comic book, right? But to be honest, I think it’s bullshit. Just a cool thing to say. I bet not even those who wrote it believe it. Plus, if what you are saying is true and we really did get our powers for some higher purpose, well than they got it wrong. Cause I am no superhero, my friend. I am sure you know how I got my money and all the rest. »

« I know you have stolen quite a lot, yes…but everything was from very wealthy individuals. And you never used your talent for anything Evil ».

« Oh boy, here we go again with the comic book shit. Evil and Good and Villain and Hero. I told you, the real world doesn’t work like that. And even if I am not a villain – according to you – I can assure you that I am no hero either. So go ahead and do what you want but keep me out of it. I’ll just enjoy life with his amazing power. And that’s all on my part. Have a nice life and try to live a little! ».

And with these words, he disappeared.