THE MOMENT
"Are you real?" Edwin felt silly asking. But, it was less about the question and more about his current situation. He was hidden away in a dark corner on the second floor of the library. He found the most secluded spot he could and huddled up with his hoodie over him like a blanket as he talked to his phone. Not to someone on the other end; it was an actual AI in his phone as far as he could tell.
"I'm talking to you, ain't I?" the voice chuckled and an image of a golden, faceless man in a red suit appeared over his app icons. "Either I'm real, or you're not." His laugh was extra unsettling without eyes or a mouth to show that emotion. "Now that we can talk alone; you can call me Helios," the figure added.
"You're really the one that's been giving out powers?" Edwin asked. Over the past few months, Superpowers had been revealed to the world on a limited basis. The first one came forward with a list of rules and explicit goals to meet. He failed to live up to the expectations and their powers were stripped publicly after a month, without the entity revealing itself. The second person tried to ignore the rules altogether and they also had their powers stripped in only a few days. Almost a month later a third person was given an attempt and the world started to get used to the idea. Now they were many months in and Edwin was the 8th person chosen.
"If you don't believe me by the end of our conversation, no Superpower can help you," Helios chuckled some more. "So, randomly chosen Mr. Edwin Carlson, would you like to pick out a Super power?"
"Yes!" Edwin nodded instantly. He felt funny being called 'Mr.' at only 16; but, the details didn't matter right at that moment. "I want to-,"
"Whoa there, pardner," a straw cowboy hat appeared on Helios' head just long enough for him to tip the brim, then it disintegrated away again. "This is a process, so we'll approach it step by step. You're interested, that's good!" he said. "But, before you agree there are things you need to know. No, wait, that's wrong," Helios shook his head and reached up to rub his chin while a circular 'buffering' animation played on his forehead.
"Before you agree, you need to know that there are things I can't tell you until after you agree. It's a trap, see? It's kind of an 'all or nothing' decision. Taking the deal will change your life and everything you know completely. Not just for a month; but, it will be a permanent change. Even if you fail the task and I take your powers away, you'll be different. You'll learn things that only a handful of people know; and, you won't be able to talk about it to anyone. Everything will be different for you. But, those are the things I can't explain without you agreeing first."
"But, I can talk to the previous competitors about it, right?" Edwin asked. Helios shook his head.
"No one," Helios said. "There's a reason for that; but, I can't tell you yet," he shrugged. Edwin was nervous about taking such a strange deal with that little information. But, he couldn't deny the existence of Superpowers now. This was something he'd wanted since the first Super came forward to announce the new reality. It boiled down to this being his best chance at getting what he wanted even if he had no idea about the risks. He was willing to take them.
"I agree," he nodded. "I want Superpowers, what do I have to do?"
"First, let's make that decision official. Accept this agreement, please," Helios stepped aside and a new window popped up next to him on the phone. It was full of tiny illegible text with a simple checkbox to acknowledge. He did not hesitate and touched it immediately.
"Welcome to the Multiverse, Edwin! If you tell anyone about it, I get to AHEM," he coughed with no mouth and cleared his non-existent throat. " Sorry about that. Where was I, ah yes. If you reveal the multiverse to anyone, I will unfortunately have to eliminate you and anyone you told, hinted at, or even obliquely intimated."
"Multiverse?" Edwin ignored the threat in the hopes that Helios was just being playful. Though, butterflies began fluttering in his gut.
"This Earth is one of an infinite number of alternate Earths. Almost anything you can imagine is out there, including a great variety of Superpowered individuals. I run a little reality show that has Supers compete in different trials for a big prize. The show got stale for a bit until I started adding untrained Supers to see how imaginative they can be," Helios gestured to his side and Ewdin's profile picture appeared next to him. "Like this sucker here," he chuckled.
"You'll have 30 days to complete a set number of tasks to the best of your ability. You're kind of a wildcard to shake things up for the real competitors, no one expects you to win," he said. "But, you only get to keep your powers if you win and prove your worth."
"Huh," The utterance was all that Edwin could put together at that point. This wasn't an outcome he would have ever imagined; but, in a way, it was better than he could have hoped. As he saw it, the worst case scenario was that he got to enjoy having Superpowers for 30 days, and now he knew that there was so much more out there. No one expected him to win; but, he didn't really need to to enjoy the experience. And he wondered if he would be able to visit alternate Earths.
"So, do you want to start picking out powers?" Helios asked.
"Heck yeah!" Edwin nodded. He had a lot to think about; but, he could do that later.
"Great. Oh, let's start with your backup; we want that as close to the current you as possible," Helios said.
"Back up?"
"Yeah, the NPC we'll leave in your place when you don't win. IF! IFFFFFFF you don't win."
"NPC? What?"
"Boy you don't listen or read very well, do you? It was all there in the contract; and I said it clearly. When I take your powers away, it'll be a different you.... hmmm, no wait,” Helios shook his head again. This time, he included the sound of a single ball bearing bouncing around in his hollow head. “Actually hearing myself say that again it's not as clear as I thought. What I meant was, when I take your powers away you die and it's a different 'you' left behind to take your place."
"What?" Edwin's mind was working too fast to get any words out, and his nerves weren't helping any.
"Hey, that answers your other question too, doesn't it?" Helios chuckled. "That's why you can't talk to the other competitors; they don't exist anymore."