Chapter 4: Self Imposed Test
Aaron Cyrus January 4th,20XX
My priority right now wasn’t to learn how to fly well, or to test the limits of my indestructibility, as Joyce had termed it. The main priority was to learn how to control these abilities and not go flying into the air every time I was caught off guard.
It didn’t look like I could do anything about the ‘indestructibility’, but the flying, now that I had a clue on how to control it, needed to get under control. As long as I was careful not to get into any accidents it was unlikely anyone would notice the indestructibility but all it took was a startle for me to shoot up into the air.
My itinerary for the day was full of things my management company would scream if they saw it.
Roller coasters and skydiving.
I’d noticed I tended to fly when I thought it would get me out of danger, but for now, it was just an instinct. I needed to grind the instinct into a controlled response and then be able to restrain when necessary.
It wouldn’t do if I tripped over my own feet and ended up on the ceiling in public, or worse if it was outside.
The weather was cold so I wasn’t sure if any rollercoasters were still open, but there were some indoor ones I could try, they were just a bit far.
I didn’t have a car, since I was always worried something would happen and I would become a danger to myself and others on the road. This resolution was only solidified by what had happened a few days ago. It was still absolutely wild to me that I’d not only survived being run over by an out-of-control truck but had only done so because of some superpowers that came out of nowhere.
Joyce had looked into it and assured me that I would have been the only casualty from the out of control vehicle. The trucker had managed to drive the truck into a ditch once he had exited the street.
Since I, the only victim couldn’t claim any harm done, the truck driver had gotten off scot-free but the company that had created the truck was under some fire.
Rationally I knew it wasn’t the driver’s fault for what had happened, and he had done as best as he could to prevent anything worse than happening, but I also knew that if I hadn’t suddenly developed these abilities, my life would have ended that day. The driver, who had driven into a ditch to save others was currently hospitalized and wouldn’t be able to work for the next few years under rehabilitation.
I noticed that I kept repeating the fact that I had these abilities to myself, like saying it enough times would make it feel more real to me than it currently did.
The past few days had passed like a dream, and while it wasn’t a nightmare, it wasn’t a pleasant dream either.
I put in an order for a rented car and driver and waited to be taken to my first location, an indoor roller coaster site I’d searched up online. The reason I wanted to do the roller coaster first was because of their tight straps. Even if I did start to fly, it would only be by a few centimetres that no one but myself would be able to notice.
The taxi, a bright red car that looked like it was made a few decades ago pulled up to the front of the building and I got in.
“Mr. Cyrus?”
I confirmed my identity through my phone and got into the back seat. I’d already put in my destination while making the reservation and had paid half the fare, the rest would be decided by how quickly they got me there.
“That’s me.”
We drove in silence for a few minutes, but I guess the driver had gotten a better look at my face while I was seated.
“Hey, aren’t you that kid on the- what was it. That advertisement? The tennis player, right?”
I couldn’t call myself especially famous, and definitely wouldn’t call myself the most popular person, so it was somewhat surprising that he had a low rimmed cap. Ordinarily, it would have made me pretty happy to be recognized but nothing had been ordinary recently.
The option to either deny or ignore their question played crossed my mind but I decided against both and answered the innocent question by nodding and smiling as much as possible through the mask.
“Ah… yeah. Are you a fan?”
It was a bit of an obnoxious question, but a warranted one I felt. Aside from my eyes and maybe the bottom of my ears, I wasn’t showing any other recognizable feature. I knew the effectiveness of a mask and a hat as a disguising tool was limited but it was pretty effective for those that didn’t know me. It was either I’d met this person before and help a meaningful interaction with them, or they were a really big fan. Well, there was also the possibility of them being a paparazzi, but again. I wasn’t big enough to be of much interest to the big gossip outlets.
“My younger brother is! He doesn’t ever stop talking about ya’ and has a million pictures of ya saved to his phone. Say, when you get there would you mind taking a video saying my Lil’ bro’s name? It’d make his year?”
“Oh, no problem. If you give me his name and your address, I can get the other guys to sign a jersey and send it over.”
Although I could be considered popular it was rare for me to have a ‘fan’ so I went a bit further than others might have gone.
The driver exploded into excitement on behalf of their younger brother, and I was curious as to whether the brother was the only fan. After extracting a confirmation of my offer from me, the driver fully focused on the road, intent to get me there as quickly as possible and get the video.
The rest of the drive passed pleasantly with the driver making casual conversation, but I couldn’t really focus on their words and desperately clung to the handlebar to prevent myself from floating up towards the roof of the car.
I wasn’t sure why I’d suddenly started to float, but I had to stop as quickly as possible.
“Ground, ground, ground.”
I quietly muttered the same word over and over again in the attempt that it would help me ground myself and return to the constraints of gravity.
“Woah! Are you okay?”
The driver noticed my heavy breathing and my increasingly shortening answers and much have thought something was wrong.
The car began to slow down but I couldn’t let that happen.
“Keep driving!”
They were taken off guard by my intense tone and somewhat shrunk into themselves in response. I needed to apologize.
“Sorry for yelling. I’m just- I get a little carsick and sudden stops make it works. Thanks for worrying.”
I made up an excuse that sounded reasonable and exhaled as the driver seemed to believe it. They slowed down the car to just above the speed limit and would occasionally look back to make sure I hadn’t passed out.
The conversation stopped there, but I wasn’t in the right state of mind to pick it back up.
We arrived at the destination in silence and I made to get out of the car but was stopped by the driver to take the video.
I kept my hat on since I hadn’t done my hair, but I took the mask off and put on the brightest smile I could.
“Hey, Lenox! It's good to meet you! I met your older brother here today and he told me you’re a fan of mine? Thanks for the support and for choosing me to give that support too. Ha- I don’t really know what to say here so, yeah. Have a good day and keep doing great!”
The driver then gave me their address and I promised to have the jersey sent over within the week.
“Thanks again! That'll make his year! Do you need me to wait around and drive you back or are you planning on calling for another driver?”
“I’ll probably be here for a while, so I won’t keep you.”
“Okay then, Thanks again!”
I watched the car drive off and grounded myself again, mentally repeating to keep my feet out of the air and entered the amusement park.
It was sunnier in this city than the one I’d come from but that wasn’t what was special about the park.
The entire space was about the size of three football fields and was sealed inside a giant dome, that looked like it was made of glass. It was completely isolated from the atmosphere. I saw bright green grass, probably artificial, and colourful flowers on the sides. The people inside the dome were dressed in summer wear and had bright smiles on their faces.
It had been hard to imagine what an amusement park would look like in the wintertime, but it made sense once I saw it.
I paid for my ticket and purchased a pair of shorts and a shirt from the kiosk by the entrance. After a moment of thought, I also decided to switch out my black ball cap for their signature bright red beanie and to buy a pair of sunglasses. I really couldn’t afford to be recognized in a place like this mere days away from a job with Aol.
There wasn’t a large line for the roller coaster, so I got to my turn within a few minutes and quickly strapped myself into the car of the coaster.
I’d taken the seat at the front in the hopes no one would sit beside me, but an old lady, well not old, she was probably in her mid-fifties, chose to sit beside me.
At my questioning expression, she smiled in response and explained herself in a kind but nervous tone.
“Sorry, dear. You see I have a date with my grandchild in a few days and wanted to practise before it happened. I wouldn’t want to scare him away by reacting poorly to the ride.”
While the coaster wasn’t the most intense one out there, it was still pretty powerful. I wondered if she would be okay but didn’t comment and shifted slightly down in my seat to make it easier for her to grab my arm if she needed to. If sitting beside me would help her out, then I wasn’t about to ask her to sit somewhere else.
The front seat was probably a bit much for a first-timer though.
“Should we move back by a few seats then? It’ll probably be better if it's your first time on a coaster.”
She seemed somewhat reluctant but agreed to move back when she saw me call the attendant over to let us loose. We eventually settled down in the middle of the car, a younger couple had chosen to exchange seats with us.
“My name is Angelie Cross by the way, but you can call me Granny Cross. My grandson is just a bit younger than you and he’s always adored amusement parks. He’s coming to visit while his family moves to another country, so I wanted to have this experience with him.”
She’d introduced herself so I had to do the same. While I had wanted to avoid being recognized I also didn’t want to lie to her so I spoke as quietly as I could. It was unlikely she would recognize me but the others around us might.
“My name is Aaron Cyrus. Nice to meet you.”
She opened her mouth as if to continue the conversation but the car we sat in lurched and the attendant rang the buzzer to warn us that the ride had begun.
I focused on my breathing and checked how much moving room there was between the seat and the heavy metal harness.
“It's about to start. Are you okay?”
I checked up on the grandmother one more time to make sure she was okay, but apart from the death grip she had on my arm she seemed rather excited.
It was through this that I realized while I could feel the pressure on my arm it didn’t hurt at all, despite the white lines forming on her hands from the strain.
The ride went by pretty quickly, but I couldn’t really concentrate on it and was instead focused on soothing the old woman beside me. I thought to myself that it was a good thing we’d switched seats right before the ride started but the older woman didn’t seem to be in the state of mind to congratulate me on the decision.
As we got off the ride, she used my arm as a stabilizer and wobbled as she tried to regain her balance.
“Thank you so much, dear. I don’t think I would have been able to get through that alone.”
She pulled out her purse, an old purple pleather monstrosity and pulled out a wallet of the same breed. I stopped her before she could pull out the bill she had pinched and made eye contact with her.
“It's fine ma’am. I’m only glad you’re okay.”
“Well then. Take this instead.”
She pulled out a business card as well as a fifty-dollar bill and pushed them into my hands, more forcefully than I would have expected from someone of her stature. Arguing any more than I already had would just be rude, so I accepted it.
“Thank you then... would you like to take a picture with me then? As a memory of today?”
I wasn’t as crude as to believe that everyone wanted my picture, but I figured her grandson had probably seen me before, even if he wasn’t a fan. It would be a good conversation topic for her.
Granny Cross sent me a large smile in response and brought out her phone. She began to look around for someone else to take the picture for us, but that was a bit too risky for me.
I pulled down my mask and took my sunglasses off, as I walked over to her side and took the picture as a selfie.
“Do you mind if I send this to myself?”
“Of course, dear.”
She looked somewhat anxious the longer I held the phone, so I quickly punched my number into the phone and brought out my own. My phone felt warm as I brought it out of my pocket, a testament to the unreasonable warmth inside the dome. I called the number I put in and let mine ring, to show her I wasn’t entering a random number and then texted the photo to myself.
“Thanks, Granny Cross. If you ever need someone to ride a coaster with, you can give me a call. ”
It was a bit of an awkward name but since that was what she wanted to be called, then that was what I would call her.
The old woman wobbled as she walked away, and I was worried for her safety, but she quickly regained her balance and disappeared from my sight.
I called for another car to get me to my next destination and took a seat in the shade while I waited. Although my attention had been somewhat divided on the ride, I was happy that I hadn’t flown once. Maybe it was because I was so scared that Granny Cross would notice, or because I wasn’t thinking about it at all, but it had worked.
While I waited, I realized was still dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. While it was necessary for the inside of the dome, it wouldn't fly in the cold winter wind outside. I ran back to the dressing rooms to get changed and looked forward to my next destination with a sort of morbid dread.
As long as I could pass that self-imposed test. Then I would be able to make good on my deal with Aol, and I wouldn’t have to let my team down.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone