Was this another hidden power of the torc?
She looked at the others; all were oblivious to her and her power. There was Marcia Valentine; a rather arrogant girl who believed she was better than most here. She was deputy head-girl, and told anyone who listened that she should have been head-girl.
Keira watched her until the snotty brunette glanced her way and made eye contact.
Wham!
It happened again.
Marcia jerked slightly, as if suddenly shocked by electricity. Then she frowned and looked away, appearing slightly dazed and confused.
Keira looked down.
Okay, she told herself, this could be awkward. What was happening?
The bolt directed towards Marcia was greater than towards the Head. Why was that?
Could it be that the mildly curious got a little jolt to dissuade their curiosity, while the antagonistic received a bolt level with their negative feelings towards her?
She glanced sideways at Shannon, who grinned conspiratorially and met her eyes.
Nothing.
There was no animosity, nor was there any mental searching going on. That must be the answer. It was a defence mechanism to deter any curiosity towards the wearer, or more importantly, any negative or aggressive feelings. She would have to watch that, carefully.
As the day progressed, Keira felt as if she was outgrowing this place. She had been here just a few weeks, and yet it was as if she was destined for greater things. She had to shake that feeling away, as it was a dangerous thought. One of the most important things she learned from being Kenneth was the importance of belonging and fitting in. As Kenneth had never felt he belonged, now Keira did, she didn’t want to start believing she was so different to want to isolate herself from the world. Her strength was from being in the world and not standing out. She had to learn patience alongside her academic lessons.
She found that without the constant thoughts of being female nagging at her, she was able to give so much more to her classes. The Torc definitely helped her learn and particularly remember. In fact, she was enjoying learning more than she could ever imagine.
“Shit, you weren’t bloody kidding, were you?” Shannon said when she finally recovered the power of speech. Having been carried from the roof of the school, across the playing fields to land in the woodland some two miles away reduced the normally effervescent Shannon to a gibbering wreck.
“You pushed, and this is what you got. Do you want to go back?” Keira asked.
“No bloody way; this is so cool. I just need to get used to it, that’s all,” she said, looking at Keira’s dark form in the gloom. “Why do you wear black?”
“It’s harder for people to see me.”
“You can fly, why do you worry whether they can see you or not?”
“One, I can’t fly, not as such. And, two, I care because if they see me, they talk and that brings the press and probably the authorities. I want to stay under the radar, that’s why.”
“If you can’t fly, what the hell do you call what you just did?” Shannon asked, looking back across the valley at the school. They’d covered a couple of miles in just a couple of minutes.
“It’s more like a jump. I can turn gravity off and jump a really long way.”
“Like on the moon?”
“More like in zero gravity, as the moon still has gravity, it’s just less than here.”
“You’ve been there?” Shannon asked.
“Don’t be daft, of course I haven’t been to the moon. But people have and we all know that there’s less gravity there.”
“Oh; could you go there, if you wanted to?” Keira turned and looked at the sliver of moon that sat low in the night sky.
“Possibly, in theory, if I had a suit and sufficient air. Neither of which I could get, so it’s pretty academic really. To be honest, why would I want to go there?”
“Hey, why not? It’s there isn’t it?”
“There’s bugger all up there,” Keira said, losing patience.
“You could check the conspiracy theories that say the yanks never went there.”
“And then what? I couldn’t exactly go public, could I?”
“Oh, I never thought of that.”
“Clearly. Look, I’ve probably thought of all these things, and discounted most of them. I’m still learning my powers and abilities, so just keep your silly ideas to yourself. The most important thing for me is not to shine out and be seen. Can you understand that?”
“With all those mobile phones with cameras out there, you’ll find it hard.”
“I know, so that’s why I go out at night and dress in black.”
“You should have a mask.”
“One of the burglars said that.”
“How many have you grabbed?”
“Two, so far. It’s not as easy as I thought. They don’t advertise what they’re doing and when.”
“Stuff the burglars; I’d go after the terrorists.”
Keira frowned.
“Why?”
“They’re like you, trying to keep under the radar. It stands to reason that they’ll work hard to keep out of the sight of the authorities, so that would be perfect for you.”
Keira had not thought of that.
“How fast can you fly, or jump?”
“I reckon I can move at around seventy miles an hour, probably more if pushed. With you dragging us down, it was about forty.”
“So, what else can you do?”
Keira showed her some; not all.
“This is awesome! Okay, now I know why you don’t want anyone to know,” said Shannon. “Why did you tell me; I’d have accepted a story about visiting a boy?”
“Lies are harder to keep up than the truth. Besides, have you any idea how lonely it is not being able to share it?”
“Does anyone else know?”
“One other; a girl from my last school; she was my only friend, I suppose.”
“That is really sad.”
“Oh, Connie is okay; she’s a bit gullible. I told her I was an alien, and I think she still believes it.”
“That is so awesome.”
“I’d just become aware of my powers and, well, it was a bit of fun.”
“May I see it again?”
“The torc?”
“Yes.”
Keira took it off and handed it to Shannon.
“I still can’t move it,” she said.
“I didn’t think you would. I think it’s sort of keyed into me and my DNA or my brainwaves.”
“If you left it off for a while, would it have to reboot or something?”
“I have no idea, and I don’t intend to find out.”
Shannon turned it over and over.
“It’s too light and slender to have any technical junk inside; so it must be magic or something like that.”
“It could be alien, and they were far more technically advanced than us.”
“How did it get here?”
Keira shrugged. She didn’t like being without it. Shannon sensed her unease and passed it back, surprised at the ease with which Keira opened it and placed it back where it belonged.
“I’m jealous,” Shannon said with a grin.
“Sorry, but as far as I know, this is the only one.”
“Are we going to nab a burglar tonight?” Shannon asked.
“No, I’m knackered from last night. We’ll go back and get some sleep.”
Shannon wasn’t heavy, as the device managed to nullify weight, but not mass. By using the power of the torc to keep Shannon close to her, she was able to jump with her wrapping her arms around Keira’s waist. It was cumbersome, but stable.
“What the hell?” Shannon said, as they were in the middle of the first jump.
This surprised Keira, who was already looking for the next landing point to change direction to keep on course for getting them to the school. The problem with this means of travel, was once you had the velocity, one could not stop or accelerate. One could only turn the gravity up and so head down to the ground, or lose it to attain greater height.