As Mr. Smith sat alone in his room later that night, he tried to put together what had happened to him. When he fell earlier, he hit his head. The head injury must have changed something in the way his mind worked. He could receive signals from others, if he concentrated. He could also send his own signals back. The problem with Dr. Fields then wasn’t that she hadn’t received the signal; the problem was that the signal was not strong enough to compel action. Mr. Smith soon arrived at two theories about using his power. First, any use would need to be subtle. Second, to be effective he would need to lower his victim’s defenses. Victims—it already occurred to Mr. Smith to think of them this way. He intended to use and abuse anyone and everyone he could. And why not? That’s what the world had been doing to him for as long as he could remember.
But who could he test these theories out on? He would need his victim’s trust, or the time to build it. Thinking on the problem, he found three candidates. First was his chemistry lab partner, Hannah. She was short and had nice curves and shining brown hair, but she prattled on and on about the most banal subjects. His next candidate was his next door neighbor Ms. Davis. She was had just graduated from college and moved to the area to work at the technology park. She was a mousey little redhead that often called Mr. Smith to help with “man-jobs” around her house. His final candidate was his mother. Not exactly an ideal choice—there was a certain “ick” factor to abusing his mother—but not horrible either. She worked hard to keep in shape, and had the muscle to prove it. She kept her hair dyed to hide any grays, and her face hadn’t begun to really show her 45 years. |