Date: Thu, 4 May 2017 19:19:27 -0500
From: D B <donbon@gmail.com>
Subject: Forces Of Nature - Chapter 4

Forces of Nature, Chapter 4 by DGB

This story is a product of my imagination and under my copyright, so no
reposting/publishing without my consent.  If you are not of legal age or
somewhere in which this document is illegal, please stop reading and focus
on getting someplace safer.

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Note: Thanks for all the feedback! I tried to respond to everyone, so my
apologies if I missed you.  I caught a few that went to spam but I'm sure I
missed some.  I have lots of ideas on where I want to take the story; I
just have to find the time to write.  The story will be continuing on for a
while, feel free to drop me a note if you are enjoying my
work. donbon@gmail.com.

*****************************************

Jake was wide awake by 5:30 Monday morning, too excited to fall back
asleep.  At 6 he gave up on sleeping and got out of bed to take a quick
shower.  Normally he wasn't a big fan of breakfast, but since Alex had made
a big ado about lunch the day before he decided it was probably a good
idea.  Jake wanted to be in top form for testing of his powers.

With breakfast squared away he focused on his next problem; what does one
wear to a magic observatory?  He wasn't exactly going to work, but he also
wanted to impress Alex's grandfather, and there was no telling who else he
was going to meet.  A suit probably wasn't necessary, but jeans might be
too casual.

In the end he opted for a pair of slacks and a dress shirt like he normally
wore to the office, and put a tie into his backpack just in case.  The
backpack was probably overkill but he had decided last night that he wanted
to be prepared for anything.  The backpack held a notebook and some pens, a
spare charger for his phone, and his kindle just in case he had some down
time.

Mostly his bag was for comfort, something familiar to keep him grounded in
all this and make it seem like less of a dream.  Jake stood in the kitchen,
absently summoning little orbs of water above the sink when his phone
finally dinged; Alex was outside.  "Be down in a minute," he quickly texted
back.

Alex was surprised to see his new friend walk out with a travel mug in each
hand.  Alex leaned over the center console to open the passenger door.

"Good morning! You never said if you found your coffee pot so I figured I'd
bring you some for the road," Jake intoned.

"Are you always this thoughtful, or just trying to make a good impression?"
Alex teased before taking a sip. "Oh man this is way better than what they
have at the lab."  Drinking some more he maneuvered the car into
traffic. "You look spiffy today.  I should have told you we usually just
wear jeans and polos unless there is a tour group or someone important
coming in."

Jake kept his mouth shut about the tie in his backpack, "This is what I
normally wore to work so I figured it would be safe.  I can run back
upstairs and change if you want to circle around the block.  I wasn't
really sure what I'd be doing today."

"Nah you're fine.  I don't really know what you'll be doing either, but I
leave some clothes in grandpa's apartment you can borrow if nothing else. I
talked to him last night and he wants to meet you as soon as we get there.
He said he'd try to answer any questions you have about manipulators and do
some testing on your powers.  Don't worry, it doesn't hurt or anything.  We
do the testing every year or so just like a physical at the doctor, without
the turn your head and cough bit."

Jake couldn't help but laugh at that. Their chatter continued the rest of
the way to the observatory, with Alex filling him in on who he might run
into.  "The secure areas are restricted to manipulator only access, but
assume everyone else is normal unless I tell you otherwise," was Alex's
final instruction.

He drove around the back of the observatory and parked beside a
non-descript door.  "Grandpa told me to just bring you to his apartment. He
figured it might be best to skip reception and stuff until we come up with
a good cover story of why you are getting a tour of secure areas."

"Oh, that makes sense," Jake answered in a quiet voice.  "Now that we are
here I'm not sure this was such a good idea.  I don't want to screw
anything up."

Alex turned off the car and gave his full attention to his friend, "I
promise you nothing bad will happen.  If you knew half the shit I've
screwed up over the years you wouldn't be worried at all.  I meant what I
said last night; I'm here to help you if you'll let me. And so is grandpa."

"Sorry, I just feel like my whole world has been turned upside down."  Jake
inhaled a deep breath, slowly blowing out, "Ok, let's get this over with."

The boys were almost to the door when it opened from the inside, framing an
older gentleman with the same read hair and playful eyes of his friend.
"Good morning favorite grandson of mine," he said as he pulled Alex into a
hug.

"I'm your only grandson."

The old man winked, "I know, you don't have any competition."

Jake was caught off guard when he was the next to be pulled into a hug,
"And you must be Jake."

His nervousness over meeting the man evaporated.  "It's good to meet you
sir.  Alex speaks fondly of you.  I'm really sorry for any problems I
caused with that storm two weeks ago.  I didn't mean any harm."

"It's ok son, Alex explained everything to me.  You aren't the first
manipulator that caused an energy surge, and you won't be the last.  Even
those of us that know how to control our powers can still lose control in
some situations.  No one blames you for what happened."

Before he realized what he was doing Jake had wrapped his arms around the
elderly man for another hug, "Thank you sir."

Ralph gently patted the boy's back, touched by his contrition. "Now one
thing I can't forgive though is all this sir stuff; makes me sound old.
Just call me Ralph."

"Yes sir, Ralph," Jake did his best to stifle a giggle when he realized his
mistake.

Alex on the other hand lost it completely, laughing harder when his
grandfather just shook his head and sighed.  Ralph just muttered, "Great,
now I have two smart asses to deal with."

"I love you Grandpa," Alex dramatically fluttered his eyelashes.

"Alright that's enough.  Get to the lab before you're late to work," Ralph
commanded.

The boys quickly exchanged a look. Alex replied, "I was kind of hoping to
hang around here for a bit."

Ralph was already prepared for this discussion, "You know Jake will be
perfectly safe with me, and I'd like a chance to talk to him and see how we
can best help him and introduce him to the community.  I also need to test
his powers to be able to teach him his limits so he doesn't get hurt.  You
know most of our kind are very private about how strong their abilities
are; you owe it to Jake to let him test in private and decide if and when
to tell you. And on top of all that they really do need you in the lab
today to try and fix an instrument that went down over the weekend."

Alex grudgingly turned to his friend, "Grandpa is right. You deserve your
privacy and I should get to the lab and do some work; I'm just a few floors
away though, if you need me give me a call and I'll get here as soon as I
can."

Ralph interjected before Jake could respond, "Come by later and you two can
go out and eat a big lunch.  I'm sure Jake will be ready for a break by
then and I know he will need to eat after testing his powers all morning."

With plans set for lunch Alex reluctantly headed for work.  Ralph led the
way to the kitchen where they both took a seat for another cup of coffee.
After a few minutes of small talk Jake was loosening up and sharing more
details about himself, and also asking about Ralph and the observatory.

After they had talked a while Ralph took the young man's hands into his
own, "I'm going to ask you to let me invade your privacy for a little bit.
To do the testing accurately you are going to have to drop the barrier Alex
taught you.  Before we get to that though, I'd like to ask you to drop it
for just me, and in exchange I'll drop my shield for you.  My strongest
power is my ability to sense emotions from others; even emotions you aren't
aware of.  I have the rare ability to walk through memories while we are in
physical contact, and I'd like to see if there is anything in your past
that might help me trace your roots.  It will be far quicker than playing
twenty questions. "

The older man paused to let his words sink in.  "You will be aware of
flashes of memory as I travel through your mind, and unfortunately strong
emotions may be triggered by some of them.  You can stop the process at any
time by letting go of my hands and breaking the contact.  Ultimately the
choice is yours.  I will think no different of you if you say no and we
just talk instead."

Jake studied the man sitting in front of him, but couldn't detect even the
faintest hint of judgement or malice.  "Alex trusts you, so I guess I do
too.  What do I have to do?"

"Hopefully my grandson was smart enough to teach you that using your powers
is really just a matter of focusing your willpower at what you are trying
to accomplish.  You willed the shield into place, so now just will it to
have an opening that only lets me in," Ralph explained.  "Well done.  Ok,
take a deep breath and let me know you are ready by projecting the emotion
towards me.  Remember break contact at any time you need to."

Jake took several deep breaths before trying to convey he was ready.
Almost instantly his mind was flooded with images of the past day; it
started with his thoughts in bed last night, and rewound through his coffee
shop encounters with Alex; to waking up in the hospital and the moments
before he lost consciousness.  The images rapidly picked up speed as Ralph
raced through his whole life. Feelings of rejection and loneliness grew
into utter despair as his father's face repeatedly flashed by.  Jake had
squeezed his eyes tight to try and hold back the tears as one nanny after
another left his life.  The tears fell anyway as Ralph reached his earliest
memories.

Jake's mind was suddenly quiet as he felt Ralph's arms around him, gently
stroking his back and surrounding him with warmth like Alex had done.
Several minutes passed before the old man spoke, "I'm so sorry you had to
go through so much pain growing up, and relive it again today.  Regardless
of what happens after today I promise you I will always be here for you
until the day I die.  You can come to me whenever you need a friend to talk
to."

Taking comfort in the words Jake replied, "I guess I never realized how bad
things were till I saw it all at once.  My father never loved me. I think
he must have fired my nannies whenever I was getting close to them.  I have
no idea why he let Anna stay so long.  Please don't tell Alex, I don't want
him to pity me."

Ralph put his hand over his heart, "I promise.  And I will never let him
know your feelings about him either."  Jake blushed so hard his face almost
turned purple, making the old man chuckle, "Sorry I didn't mean to
embarrass you.  I won't tell you any of his secrets either, but you should
know he will accept your sexuality entirely when you do decide to tell
him."

The younger man sighed, "I know I have to tell him eventually, but now you
know I don't really have any friends.  I was hoping that after he got to
know me it wouldn't matter.  I was so worried when he explained the
empathic powers to me that he'd be able to sense it."

"He didn't mention anything to me.  In any case, your shield was quite firm
when you got here this morning.  When you feel comfortable enough with
someone, you will let them through just like you did with me.  You can also
just filter the connection to where they only feel vague impressions that
you are happy or sad, that sort of thing."

Ralph smiled, "I'm impressed.  You filtered me without any coaching.  No
wonder you did so well in school, you are a bright young man indeed."
Sensing a change in his grandson Ralph continued, "Was that you? Alex has
been agitated all morning but he just calmed down."

"I think he must have just let me past his barrier too.  It's like I'm
suddenly feeling one of his hugs."

"Hmm," Ralph thought carefully before replying.  "You two must have a
stronger bond than either of you are aware of. Like all of our powers, the
ability to sense another decreases with distance.  Strangers or mere
acquaintances wouldn't even sense you from the living room.  However, the
stronger your bond the further your powers reach.  For example, yesterday
with Alex downtown I could feel his excitement from here."

Thinking it best to change the subject, Ralph suggested they head for the
testing chamber to measure his powers.  He explained along the way, "The
testing room is built underground, with thick walls.  It should keep out
interference from the environment or any other mages.  There are
representations of all the elements manipulators can control, each one with
a measuring device.  Since our powers don't overlap I can stay with you to
guide you through the process.  I'll have to leave for empathy of course,
so we'll do that one last after you are comfortable with the process."

Jake and Ralph descended a narrow spiral staircase before stepping into a
large cavernous room, illuminated primarily by a single orb of light
hovering at the apex of the room.  They crossed the room to an alcove
ringed with blue crystals that appeared to be dripping from the ceiling,
like icicles frozen in time.  A large copper tub stood in the middle of the
alcove, filled to the brim with water.  A hollow tube marked at regular
intervals similar to a graduated cylinder was fastened to the side of the
basin, and appeared to run from near the floor into the ceiling.

"First we will test your power to control water.  You simply place your
hands in the basin, clear your mind, and focus all of the willpower you can
muster to force water up the tube.  As you can see the tube is currently
entirely empty due to air inside forcing it out.  The higher you can drive
the water, the stronger your power.  You're welcome to do a dry run, so to
speak, to get the hang of it."

Jake tentatively slipped his fingertips into the water, and the tube
immediately began to fill with water.  Finding the water to be warm against
his skin, he plunged in both hands.  The water level was now at waist
height.  He breathed deeply before closing his eyes to focus, willing the
column to rise higher.  A few heartbeats later he felt as if the water had
suddenly turned to lead, and he strained to focus even harder. He made one
final mental push before speaking out, "It's so heavy, I can't move it any
higher."

Jake felt the hand on his shoulder before the older man spoke, "Open your
eyes and see what you've done."

Jake looked down at the tube expecting the waterline to still be at his
waist, but instead saw the water extending well above his head into the
shadows above. With a gasp of astonishment his concentration was broken and
the water quickly drained back to the basin.

Turning around he saw Ralph's face registered awe as well.  "I've never
seen another manipulator score so high.  Typically the water will rise to
between chest height and eye level, rarely over six feet; you measured
closer to eight. I think if you tried, you could control every raindrop
falling around you for several blocks. Let's measure your electrical
abilities next."

The next alcove they came to was covered in large opaque crystals, gently
pulsing with energy within.  The old man appeared to be engaged in a mental
debate for a moment before he spoke, "Based on the last test I'm not sure
the traditional methods will work here; electricity is still a modern
phenomenon in the grand scheme of things, and wasn't really harnessed until
the late 1800's.  Alex has invented a more modern test with resistors and
dials capable of measuring stronger powers.  Here, grasp this wire in one
hand and place the other against the crystals.  They will provide you with
a source of energy to focus into the wire.

Jake did as instructed, keeping watch of the large dial attached to the
contraption in front of him.  Of course Alex had designed the dial not with
numbers, but with clouds shooting an increasing number of little lightning
bolts.  When Jake focused, the dial was dancing near the high end of the
dial, somewhere between a cloud with nine bolts and a bomb icon.  The walls
of the alcove had grown dim, the pulses of energy reduced to faint flicker.
Jake felt as if he might pass out when he dropped the wire and pulled his
hand off the wall.

Ralph was prepared and quickly steadied the young man before guiding them
both to a bench near the door. Jake wasn't entirely sure what to say, "I'm
glad Alex wasn't here, I feel like a freak now. The water test didn't
affect me, but after that I want to just curl up and take a nap."

"You've channeled an incredible amount of energy this morning, possibly the
strongest storm manipulator in several generations," Ralph was gently
rubbing the boy's back.  "I have a few ideas, but I need to do some
research before I say too much.  I must ask you not to try to harness that
much power again until we know more.  I was foolish to push you into this
test after you were hospitalized in the surge a few weeks ago."

"I need you to answer a question truthfully," Jake waited for a nod of
agreement before continuing.  "Even before Alex told me about my powers
yesterday I've been wondering if what happened to the office was because of
the storm, or because of me.  You saw the images of destruction in my head.
I need to know if it was my fault."

Ralph's heart was breaking at the sight of the young man in anguish.  "I've
been asking myself the same question and I don't know."  He placed a gentle
kiss on Jake's forehead before pulling him close. "I know this will be hard
for you to accept but you must move on.  It doesn't matter what happened,
just that it did.  Focus on the future and what it will hold, and learn to
control your power."

It wasn't the answer he was looking for, but Jake understood it was the
best he would ever get.  With a sigh Jake stood and helped up his new
mentor.  Ralph declared that the empathy testing was best left for another
day, so the men headed back to the apartment.

Halfway up the stairs Jake became aware of Alex gently probing the world
looking for him.  Ralph could sense it too; or rather he could sense the
anxious nervousness of his grandson, quickly changing to relief when Jake
answered.

Alex arrived a few minutes past the appointed time for lunch.  "Sorry I'm
late. I was testing my repairs and wanted to finish before lunch."

"If you don't have anything pressing to work on this afternoon, perhaps it
would be best if you took him home this afternoon," Ralph said.  "Jake
isn't used to channeling so power like he did this morning, and I suspect
he will need a nap, and probably more question."  Turning to Jake he
continued, "I'll do some research this afternoon, and you can come back
tomorrow and I'll work with you some more."

"I'm kind of feeling tired already. I wasn't sure if it was the testing or
just because I couldn't sleep last night." Jake excused himself to the
restroom before they headed out.

Ralph took the opportunity to speak to his grandson, "He's been through a
lot these past few days, and he's going to need some time to process it
all.  Don't push him to talk about the tests; let him tell you when he is
ready."

The boys each accepted a hug from the old man before they headed for a
burger place near the observatory.  "I recommend the double bacon
cheeseburger and steak fries.  The fried egg on top is good too if you like
that."

Jake smiled, "That sounds delicious.  I love a runny yolk on the burger,
but I always seem to get some on my shirt.  But I guess I won't be seeing
anyone else today anyway."

Conversation was fairly light during lunch, neither wanting to talk about
certain things in public.  Jake finally broke the awkward silence that had
descended in the car a few blocks from his loft.  "I'm kind of tired, but
do you want to come in a chat for a bit?"

"Sure," Alex answered quickly, not caring what they talked about as long as
he got to spend more time with his friend.

Jake directed him to an alleyway to park. "That's my car, but both of these
spots came with the loft.  I never have visitors so you can park here
whenever you want.  The passcode to get into the back staircase is 555#.  I
figure if someone really wants to break in the keypad won't stop them
anyway."

The guys chatted for a while before Jake got around to the question he
really wanted answered. "I used your invention to test my electrical
powers, but what do the icons on the dial mean?"

"Yeah that seems to be my biggest design flaw," Alex sighed.  "None of the
tests really have absolute scales so I tried to make the dial like that,
even though electrical charge can actually be measured.  Most mages score
between one and three lightning bolts.  They have complained the dial isn't
sensitive enough to tell them anything from one test to the next, or they
insist that it doesn't work.  I think they just got inflated egos because
they could max out the old test."

"Oh... what was the thing at the end that looked like a bomb?"

Alex chuckled, "Supposedly a strong thunderstorm releases as much energy as
a small nuclear bomb.  I figured that would be a good top end of the
scale."

Jake realized his friend was dying of curiosity, "I scored a bit above
average."  It wasn't a lie really, `a bit' could mean a lot of things. Good
thing he was still filtering emotions towards Alex.  "Thanks for picking me
up this morning."

"I was happy to do it. Besides, you're on my way.  You want me to pick you
up same time tomorrow?" Alex asked.

Jake beamed, "If I'm really on the way that would be great.  I'll even
bring you coffee again."

"Deal," Alex replied.  "I can tell you're getting tired so I'll head home.
Call me or text me though if you want."

Jake had taken off his pants and was working on unbuttoning his shirt when
he lost contact with Alex, a sensation like a shiver up his spine.  Jake
thought back to the apartment, when Ralph commented that the friends must
have a stronger connection than either realized. After all, Jake hadn't
felt any different leaving the old man at lunch.

*************************************************************
Author's note:  I figured I'd stop the chapter here or it would end up
twice as long.  I've seeded the stage for future scenes and story
developments; I suspect chapter 5 will have more action (you can interpret
that however you want)  :-)