Wish/Matthew/Steakhouse/Bending Brandy/Date then Home
As much as you'd like to play with Brandy, she is most likely in the middle of a shift. You aren't a full on villain yet, so you don't want to make her lose her job over your fun; and you don't think you're quite ready to do some mass mental editing quite yet. You need some more practice under your belt first. The logical choice is to set something up for later. That is probably for the best anyway as you should definitely look into your property if you're going to have a place to live going forward.
Brandy returns shortly with the check. You reach into her mind once more. Your preliminary exploration made this a bit easier, but it was little more than a crudely drawn map for what you were trying. You focused on seeing a recent romantic memory. You pictured her cuddled up with a cute ebony goddess. You are pleasantly surprised. When you focus on the girlfriend the information reluctantly comes to you as you try to paint a picture of her using Brandy's memories. Her name is Jillian, but she goes by Jill. She is mixed. They have been together for about sixteen months. Having enough of that information, you focus on Brandy's sexuality. Memories surrounding her sexuality abound. You try to focus on the earliest memory related to her sexuality. You see her at about twelve or thirteen with short hair shaved on one side looking in a mirror at a busted lip and a cut under her eye. You know she was just in a fight with a group of girls that had called her "dyke" and "carpet muncher". She isn't bisexual . . . she is a lesbian, pure and simple. Is that something you can change?
You focus on her sexuality more intensely. It's like you're diving to the core of her essence. It's different, not memories here . . . it's almost like computer code, but less orderly or concise. You can see her attraction to women and men. Likely everyone has both, but her attraction to males seems atrophied almost to nonexistence. You bolster it until it is equal to her attraction to women, then put in a specific attraction to yourself. Lastly, you implant the idea that Jill wanted her to find an older man to bring home. You then exit her mind. There are a few people staring at you, and you realize that she has just been standing there looking at you for too long. People are starting to notice the two of you.
"I'm sorry," you say, "I didn't mean to stare. You're just very beautiful."
"Oh," she says with a slight blush, "I . . . umm . . . I'm sorry too. I guess I was staring as well. I'm sure you're married with a cutey like that. That wasn't very professional of me."
You hold up your left hand. "Single, I'm afraid." You pause for a bit. "I . . . I don't usually do this, but would you like to go out sometime? I know that I'm a bit old for you, but-"
"Yes," she says quickly, interrupting you. She starts writing on her notepad. "Here is my number. Text me."
"I will definitely do that."
"Oh, and just take the ticket to the register when you're ready, and she'll take care of you."
"Thank you, Brandy," you say.
"Of course," she says fairly skipping away. You get the idea last minute that you should keep her from telling her girlfriend about you. You implant the suggestion that she should make sure you are the right guy before springing you on her girlfriend. That should do nicely.
"Nice recovery," says Allorah.
"Thanks," you say, "like I said, I like the idea of mind control . . . I'm just afraid of what the power could do to me. Will you help me to keep things from going too far?"
"I'll try," says Allorah, "but I'm only here for six more wishes."
"I'm working on that." She raises her eyebrow, but doesn't say anything. "Shall we depart, dear daughter?"
"But of course, dear father," she replies with a giggle.
You pay the hostess with your card, and include a healthy tip for Brandy, then take Allorah back to the car. You drive back toward your house. You can see the black smoke on the horizon as soon as you turn in that direction. It gets darker and darker as you get closer to your land. You eventually get to a roadblock, and come to a stop by a police officer. You lower your window.
"Hello officer," you say as he approaches, "I live in the affected area. Can you tell me when it will be safe for me to go back to my property?"
"What is your name and address, sir?"
"Matthew Black, 7718 South County Road 1221 West."
He types on his tablet for a bit then says, "Here we are. Yes, your property is at the center of the blaze; and is likely the ignition point. I can let you in to survey the property, but the investigators are surveying the scene to try to determine the cause."
"I hope to God it wasn't anything I did," you say.
"They'll sort it out, sir. Just make sure to keep out of any taped up areas, and stay out of the investigator's way."
"Of course, officer."
"Drive carefully then," he says, "and I'm sorry for the tragedy you're in."
"Thank you officer, I will."
As you drive through the once-familiar landscape it seems almost surreal. Motes of ash float through the air like gray snow that can't decide if it's falling or rising. A think layer of ash coats the ground, and the trees and houses are charred and blackened. As you enter your valley, the devastation strikes you to the core. There isn't a single untouched tree that you can see, and many have burned through and fallen over. You cross the dry creek in front of your lane and wonder if it would have worked as a firebreak had global climate change not made it into an arid trench every summer. You see what little of your house that is left in the distance, surrounded with yellow tape. Several vehicles are parked outside of the area, most of them with emergency lights . . . mostly red, but one red and blue. You park out of the way, and get out to take in what is left of your property. You have to fix this, but where do you start? Do you just undo everything with a one-off wish, or do you get some powers to help you bring things back yourself? If the powers are too specific it will limit their usefulness; so what powers should you get? Should you start with the forest, or the house?
Where do you start?
- Just use a one-off wish to fix everything.
- Come up with a wish to fix your forest.
- Come up with a wish to fix your house.
- Talk with the authorities.
| Reflexes: | 5 | Strength: | 7 | Resilience: | 12 |
| Dexterity: | 5 | Speed: | 6 | Stamina: | 9 |
| Health: 84% | |||||
| Perception: | 10 | Knowledge: | 15 | Willpower: | 10 |
| Logic: | 11 | Wit: | 13 | Focus: | 11 |
| Intellect: 89% | |||||
| Empathy: | 5 | Presence: | 7 | Confidence: | 10 |
| Charisma: | 5 | Rapport: | 6 | Influence: | 8 |
| Sanity: 54% | |||||
- I wish to instantly and irrevocably gain the ability to perceive, understand, and manipulate the thoughts, emotions, memories, and skills of any being through an act of will on my part without detrimental effects to myself. (Due to wording he cannot use the power on himself.)