No Such Thing as Super-Heroes

[midst_of_threads]

There is someone in her forest.

Flynn runs her hand over her creature's back, and then sends it fluttering away into the trees with a flick of her wrist.


Her first creation, her guardian, lets out a small growl.
"I know," Flynn says.
"Go. Get rid of them."

It slinks into the forest, feline features molded from broken glass.
It quickly vanishes from site and Flynn pushes down a flash of loneliness.

Comments

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

Henry looks at the larger creature with a hole he made. He looks at his hand for a moment, once again the weird warmth.

He is so confused.

[unadalturedstrength]

There is a long moment of silence and then Gabe finally says

"Can you make something like... a horse?" Gabe asks "So we don't have to walk all the way back?"

[midst_of_threads]

"I've never tried."
She closes her eyes, "I need to concentrate."
After a few seconds, a shape rises from the ground.
"I guess, that's sort of a horse? Maybe? Or it could be an elephant. Or a giant dog."
The creature stares at her with large liquid eyes, and she pats what she can reach of it's nose.
"No, you're perfect. Just not what I was expecting."

[unadalturedstrength]

"Why are you acting like it has feelings?" Gabe asks sounding it very bewildered.

[midst_of_threads]

"It does have feelings. Don't you?"
The creature lowers it's head and gently butts her side.
"See?"

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

Henry is desperately wants to point out that the thing has no brain, or if it has a brain it clearly doesn't work like human or animals brains, with the chemical reactions that are what ultimately are the cause of emotions, and the closest explanation for the thing to do what it does, it is some sort of force pulling it together... that isn't a explanation at all, and "creature made of inanimate matter with emotions" isn't all that impossibly sounding once you already have a "creature made of inanimate matter" in the first place.

Quiet, he then notices again the warmth in his hand, he waves it around then tries the other (switching the rifle first).

"I am sensing this warmth," Henry says "in my hand, it seems strongest when my palm faces myself or Gabe, but Flynn is quite warm too, and the creatures are perceptible, but only barely."

[midst_of_threads]

"Do the trees have it?"

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

Henry didn't try to face a specific tree before, just the general forest, he tries that now, picking something the largest one in view. Then he tries a boulder just to see what happens.

"Nothing on both occasions," Henry says.

[midst_of_threads]

"It's probably because we're all magic."

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

"Magic..." Henry started saying before his mouth abruptly interrupted himself.

[unadalturedstrength]

"Magic isn't real," Gabe says, starting in the exact moment Henry did "wait a minute you didn't finish that, are you sick? are you hurt? It's shock, isn't it!? We need to... give you a blanket, they do that on TV" Gabe is obviously very worried.

[midst_of_threads]

Flynn inspects Henry closely, "I don't see what you're seeing. He looks fine."

[unadalturedstrength]

"You don't know him!" Gabe snaps at her "I grew up with him! If the Fairy Godmother showed up in the arms of the golden man saying that magic is real, Henry response would be that it isn't."

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

"Gabe!" Henry protests.

He almost says "calling it magic is a valid point too" but that would completely insincere. Even with all that he just saw, going the extra length of calling it "magic" was somehow too undignified.

Instead he spoke.

"Flynn, I am sorry for Gabe," he says with just a small pause "but I need to test something... are all of your creatures valuable? My test is likely to hurt them."

[midst_of_threads]

"Don't touch them!" Flynn says, sending her bird away and stepping in front of Henry.

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

Henry raises his hands, but realizing that wasn't actually nonthreatening. He slowly lowers them (and the rifle).

"I wasn't going to," Henry says "I was going to shoot some raw material and then see if you can form a creature out of it... I was thinking that it might clue in if the power comes from you or the environment."

That... wasn't true, Henry didn't even know how he could have lied so fast. That kinda of test was on the background of his mind, but his original proposal was to shoot a creature and see if it was less warm afterwards.

Henry couldn't say he felt particularly guilty lying to the woman who almost killed his cousin, but that was a odd reaction.

"Unless your creatures attack us," Henry added absently "We won't attack them."

[midst_of_threads]

Flynn relaxes, "Oh. Sure."

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

"Do you mind if I ask how smart they are?" Henry says quietly.

[midst_of_threads]

"It depends. I have one who might be as smart as me. All of them are at least as smart as dolphins."

[unadalturedstrength]

"I can do science too!" Gabe says half-mocking "Can you teach them tricks? Fetch, Stay and..."

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

"That is a valid question," Henry cut Gabe off smoothly "they can learn new things? Have you noticed if they act differently when you sleep?"

Henry felt almost telepathic right now, he knew Gabe was going to say "and kill people in the forest" as the third trick.

[midst_of_threads]

"They can. I taught my bird to land on my wrist. They can follow complex commands and they often figure out what I mean if I'm not clear. And I have no idea how they act when I sleep because I'm asleep."

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

"You could have noticed if they move when you sleep," Henry says "or if they keep obeying the last orders you gave them. I am trying to figure out if they burrow your mental processing to make decisions. The two creatures I saw you creating are capable of complex movement seconds after being created."

[midst_of_threads]

"They move. I'll wake up to find some of them gone or sleeping next to me. Sometimes they bring me presents."

[there_is_no_such_thing_as]

"Presents like a cat bring presents?" Henry asks "or... stuff that you never mentioned out loud that you liked but they knew you did anyways?"