The Power

From the pen of Drear…

Many years after the Tech War, a new Power was discovered. In the dead of winter, a man desperately wanted to provide heat for his family. He watched the coals of the last logs he could afford burn out in the fireplace. As he thought about how cold his children would be that night, the wall next to him burst into flames.

Elsewhere, a woman discovered her husband’s infidelity. She went to confront him, angry and distraught. He hugged her in an attempt to apologize, but she pushed him away. When her hands made contact with him, a jolt of electricity ran through him.

Governments around the world attempted to make sense of these events. They studied the people in whom the new Power had manifested, alongside a control group of others who seemed to have none of these abilities. When those in the second group began to show signs of the new Power too, they realized it was far bigger than anyone had thought. In fact, reports from other nations eventually revealed that it was showing up all over the world.

In an attempt to control the situation, multiple nations together placed bans on using the new Power. They wanted to understand it better, and perhaps learn how to control it. All they knew so far was that the Power was easily triggered by strong emotions. Before anyone could learn much, though, a tragedy occurred in my home country of Pithea.

The legend is that two brothers from the western town of Ilsorae fell in love with the same woman. Due to their intense argument over whom she belonged with, the Power manifested in both of them. They tried to use it against each other, but couldn’t control it. A small-scale explosion destroyed the entire town.

No one who could have witnessed the explosion survived to give an account, and the story has certainly changed in the thousand years since the event. However, whichever version of the legend is told, some details remain the same—the Power was involved, and everyone in the town died.

Their mistake caused a worldwide panic. Leaders across the globe used the opportunity to take full control of the situation. In our region, this resulted in some of the policies we have today. Through external, artificial means, the Power is blocked in newborn infants. It is released at the age of thirteen, when each child is taught how to use and control it. In Pithea, and the union of countries it belongs to, there are many guidelines and restrictions placed on its use, and the punishment for unlawful use of Power is severe.

The Power is now a part of everyday life. Alongside physical combat, it is used to protect and defend, and in some cases, to offend. It has been harnessed for external uses, such as lighting and transportation. It is such a part of everyone and everything that no one questions it, no one fears it, and everyone depends on it.