//------------------------------// // 03- Rip Current // Story: Tales of Equestrian City- the Back Roads // by Alden MacManx //------------------------------// “Computer, engage privacy protocol Lambda seven one four Yankee, crypto sequence four nine,” the fat green-skinned fellow said to his high-end desktop computer, which looked rather hastily assembled. After brushing a lock of his pale blue hair out of his face, he observed the computer’s monitor as the protocols he had ordered were set. He sat back in his chair, dusting some cake crumbs off his belly. “Hello. I’m Rip Current. As of the time of this dictation, I currently work at Rare Innovations, in the I.T. department. “Before working there, I worked at Silver Innovations after graduating from tech school, which I went to after eight years in the Navy. Many folk say I’m good at my job, good enough to pull down a nice salary and live like I want to live, despite some disapproving words from my friend and co-worker Blaise Arrow. Okay, I get it. I’m fat, nerdy, and don’t have outdoor survival skills worth a damn. “I’m also a meta, as I found out yesterday. Apparently, I can affect currents, electrical currents. I can amplify them, cancel them, or run them in reverse. Going backwards, with electricity, does tend to lead to unpleasant results. Good thing I was able to download backups of my important files from cloud storage. This IS a backup computer. My primary computer blew up, the power supplies being unable to counter the electrical backpressure. I put out the fire myself, and nobody came knocking on my door. Smoke alarm does tend to go off when I’m cooking, anyway.” Rip sighed as he organized his thoughts. “So, after I cleaned up the mess, I headed out for a walk, into the wooded area behind my apartment. It was dark but clear, the moonlight guiding my feet as I walked to the creek, finding my favorite sit-down rock. Sitting there was how I found out I could sense water currents as well as electrical currents. Sense them, but not interfere with them. “After watching the water for a while, I found the courage to head back home. Also, the smoke should have cleared by then, and I was feeling the urge to go out for a burger or three. Walking back home, I could feel the presence of the electrical currents around me as I neared the building. I could feel them as well as hear them. The big main power leads were a deep bass rumble I could hear from about a hundred feet off, while other circuits inside apartments were of a higher pitch and feel when I got closer. I could hear and feel the currents, but they were not disturbing or annoying. My car, on the other hand, was a real shock when I got in. Turning on the power sent a jolt of noise through me, which quickly settled. Driving to and from the burger place gave me time to adapt to the current flows while driving it. “Okay, I got four burgers, three packs of fries and two of their big drinks. More than I usually get, but I was ravenous! After getting home and eating, I salvaged what I could from my old mainframe and put this one together. I wonder what time it is…" he said as his eyes tracked to the clock in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. "Ho-lee! THAT late? I better get going! “Computer, save diary, privacy protocol Lambda seven one four Yankee! Upon completion, go to shut down mode and await further input!” Rip shouted as he got out of the chair, sprinting to the bedroom, coming out in seconds, towel wrapped around him, heading into the bathroom. Five minutes later he comes out, hair a mess, quickly changing into his working gear before grabbing his phone off the charger and heading out, the door locking securely behind him. “Computer, open diary, privacy protocol Lambda seven one four Yankee, crypto sequence five two.” Rip Current appeared on the screen, collar open, mustard stains on his shirt and nose. The time ticker in the corner showed thirteen hours had passed since the last entry. He looked and sounded exhausted, yet exhilarated. “Just a quick update about today at work, then I’m going to bed. “The systems at work I found to be tolerable, for the most part. There is one power source somewhere in the building that is giving me fits, because of not only it’s straight-out power level, but of its near-constant use! The subsonics were so jarring it kept me awake, which is a good thing, because I wanted to crash out. Speaking of which, that’s not a bad idea. Good thing I got Total Wasteland set on auto record.” Rip then yawned deeply. “Too much of this all-night crap. Gonna call off and sleep in tomorrow. Sleep the mender, right? Computer, autosave and shut down.” The last image of that sequence was of Rip shutting his eyes and slumping in his chair. The next image in the diary showed that twenty hours had passed since the last entry. Rip looked freshly showered, his pale blue hair still wet, but the bags under his eyes showed fatigue. “Just a quick update before I go back to sleep again. I fell asleep in the chair, not waking up until work called, wondering where the hell I was. I told them I was taking a sick day, then I went and cooked up a breakfast that made me think twice before eating it. At this rate, I’ll top three hundred pounds in a month. After that, I fell back into bed again until about half an hour ago. I didn’t wake up hungry, fortunately. “When my computer is on, I can sense it, but every time I try to look at it, it slips out of my mental grasp. Same thing with my phone, but the phone is more in the back of my mind, easier to ignore. To be honest, I’m rather afraid to explore my power any more. Maybe some more sleep will help me. “Gonna try something first. I’m not going to shut the computer totally off, but I will leave it on, just to see what will happen. I’ll report when I wake back up.” Rip Current then yawned deeply before ordering the diary program to save and secure and putting the computer to sleep before he did. The next diary entry showed it was Sunday, more than two days after the last entry. Rip Current looked more awake this time, no more bags under his eyes, but he did have a bucket of chicken nuggets nearby, because every minute or so, he ate one. “Did some testing over the weekend. I found out that stopping or reversing electrical circuits, the results depend on the power in the system. Something small, like one of my old phones, either it will stop working or burn out something inside. AC house current more than likely will be explosive. Power to a building or a substation, VERY explosive! I’m just glad the news reported it as a transformer failure. If the power company gets hold of me, I’m so in for it! “The main drawback I can find is that the more effort I put in to using the power, the hungrier I get. Attempts to generate a current have met with failure, but stopping or reversing current flow, yes, I can do it. My next attempts are to see if I can limit my power to, say, blowing out one circuit breaker in a panel and leaving the others intact. Stopping a car driving by, I’m pretty sure I can. If I can sense it, I can stop it. “Good thing I’m able to ignore ‘background noise’,” he said, making air quotes with his fingers, “it’s just something coming into my range that I can feel. I’m getting good at ignoring it. Hopefully tomorrow, I can work normally, and pass off what happened last week as a transitory bug. I’ll hope for the best. “Computer, secure diary and encrypt.”