It’s been a month. A whole month since she realized she could move objects just by thinking about them, and she has yet to find answers as to the why it’s even remotely scientifically possible. Superpowers were supposed to be only myth; her father said so himself.

 

Her father, Joe Rallie, worked for the Government—for an organization called the District Six, a small firm dedicated to various scientific revolutionary discoveries. Joe Rallie was a scientist there, and a good one at that. He didn’t talk much about his work to his daughter, but he did mention some stunning details. “Emma, we’ve had a breakthrough!” he’d say one night at dinner. Or, “Emma, we’re changing the world! I don’t want to ruin our odds, but it may be about time to consider that the impossible isn’t so far from reality like we thought.”

 

Joe Rallie has been dead for ten years. A tragic trucking accident.

 

Now poor Emma must find an explanation to her otherwise otherworldly discovery on her own. But she’s spent weeks combing over her father’s work, and she’s had nothing to explain it even remotely. Nothing except for one crucial fact: Her father’s one and only coworker was someone named Dr. Jonathon Lee. He lives in an apartment not far from her.

 

So, on a day that Emma does not have classes at Columbia University, she decides to take a Lyft to pay him a visit, only to be stopped by a security guard in the lobby. “Excuse me, miss, do you live here?” And when Emma shakes her head, the burly white man plainly explains to her that there is no entry to civilians.

 

“But why?” she asks.

 

“Why?” asks the guard with skepticism marked across his features. “Because. Per the building owner’s insistence, they don’t want just nobody without clearance to enter and sneak around.”

 

“But—” Emma hesitates. “I’m only coming to visit a friend, not to sneak around. He should be here. After I meet him, I’ll leave.”

 

“I’m sorry, no can do,” the guard reiterates, “and if you keep pushing, I’ll be forced to remove you and ban you from the area.”

 

What on earth could this owner want to keep away from the public, you ask? Your guess is as good as Emma’s. She stands there in the lobby staring at the guard, wondering if what he’s telling her is real or not, and if not, why on earth he would lie to keep her away. “It’s an apartment building!” she’d say. “What are you trying to keep me away from?!” But no, she cannot say any of that. It would be unkind. Her father raised her to be better.

 

When it’s clear the guard will not take any reason she can give him, she throws up her hands and turns around to head right back out, only to bump into a man in a black and white suit. He takes her by the shoulders and moves her aside. “Hey, watch it,” he says. “Jesus, can’t you look where you’re going?” Then with another glance at her, “What the hell are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be in some rich university across the country?”

 

Emma frowns at this. It has been her dream to major in genetics and neuroscience just like her father did, but after her father’s unfortunate death, she’s had no way to pay for all her years of schooling to get her PhD. The funding her father had saved up barely lasted for her first four years in university to get her bachelor’s. Now she’s stuck working at Jim’s Diner, making a measly $15.00 an hour until she can afford her master’s.

 

But rather than explaining her free schedule to this man, she quickly apologizes and explains—with a pointed look at the security guard—that she needs to see someone in this building, “but security isn’t letting me.”

 

The man stares at her, because unlike other apartment buildings, people just don’t pop in for a visit. Then, finally, he asks, “What’s their name?”

 

“Jonathon?” she says. “Jonathon Lee.”

 

“And what would you need to see me for?” the man asks after a glance at the guard.

 

“Oh, well, nothing really, but I think you worked with my father,” Emma explains. She tries her best to ignore security but cannot help but look back at him every so often. “I was hoping we could talk in private. It’s important.”

 

The man takes a moment to think.  “What’s your name?”

 

Emma tells him, and to her unexpected disappointment, her name doesn’t seem to ring any bells for him. “You worked with my father,” she says again, “Joe Rallie.”

 

That, at last, creates some recognition to spark in his eyes. “Emma,” he says, now in understanding. His tone grows sympathetic. “Yes. I’m truly sorry for your loss. I didn’t realize you were still in Skyrim City.”

 

“Where else would I be?” she wants to say but doesn’t. Instead, she responds with a simple nod and a solemn “thanks.” It’s been years since she’s had to accept strangers’ heartfelt condolences. She certainly doesn’t want to get into the habit of doing so again.

 

“Come with me,” the man then asks, walking by her towards the elevator. “We’ll go up to my place where we can talk more freely.”

 

Emma follows without another word, and the two ride the elevator up to the seventeenth floor. They pass an overly smiley woman in the hall, which is dim but not dark with modern lanterns emitting light brown light every couple of doors apart. Once she’s out of earshot, Jonathon Lee asks, “So, you’re Joe’s daughter, eh? Interesting. You’re not in university then?”

 

The young quiet girl shakes her head. “I am,” she corrects, “but I have a free day today—technically,” she adds. “I should be working on assignments, and I have a seminar to prepare for, but…” She hesitates. “I had to come see you.”

 

The man only nods without making eye contact as he fishes for a ring of keys. He unlocks the door slowly but irritably, and they step in.

 

His apartment is large, far larger than Emma expected it’d be, with a sitting room twice the size of her own and a kitchen with far more appliances than is necessary. Running up to her as soon as she steps into the main corridor is a little black dog with short curly fur. A northern terrier, Emma assumes it’s called. It behaves differently though as she reaches down to pet it. While it does bark and wag its happy tail, allowing Emma to pick it up to face level, it has an obvious twitch to its head that occurs every so often that’s hard to ignore.

 

“Careful,” Dr. Lee warns, “it has a habit of nipping back at people.”

 

But the dog does not nip. It does not even squirm in Emma’s hold. She places the animal down anyway, and upon watching the dog run off in the direction it came from, Jonathon Lee opens the fridge. He pulls out a bottle of water, unscrews the top, and takes a sip. He doesn’t offer Emma anything to drink. Instead, he waits for her to explain her purpose here.

 

Emma, taking the hint, begins. She removes her cell phone from her back pocket and places it face down on the kitchen counter. All she does is think at it, her eyes squinting in the process, and the object flips over to flop! on its other side. Dr. Lee appears shocked. “How did you do that?” he asks in desperation and stunned curiosity.

 

“I have no idea,” Emma admits. “I was hoping you would know. I know the work you and my dad did was private and you can’t really tell me anything, but it’s the only explanation I can think of—my dad discovering something, somehow bringing it home, with or without his knowledge, and it affecting me. But why now after ten years…”

 

Dr. Lee sighs and sets his water down behind him. “There’s a lot about your father’s work that you don’t know about, Emma. He was an extraordinary research scientist. Many of the formulas he developed were ones I’ve been trying to discover my whole life. Your father was able to create them within a few years, months, or in some cases, weeks. His latest project…”

 

“So, it’s true then,” Emma states, barely in question. “Whatever my dad was working on somehow affected me.”

 

“Yes, it would appear so, but Emma—”

 

A rapid knock comes from Dr. Lee’s apartment door, and a woman’s voice soon after it. “Mr. Lee? Sir? There’s a problem, sir, in the old lab beneath District Six. You better come, quick!”

 

A quiet vibration emits through the ground, rattling the whole building. Emma is immediately confused. Earthquakes are not a part of Skyrim City; they simply don’t occur in this part of the world, but if this is what the rumbling is now, then what on earth is she to do?!

 

Jonathon Lee takes a quick pace back into the hall. Emma instinctively follows him, fearing that their only chance of surviving is to get out of the building right away.

 

The elevator occupied, they descend down the stairs until they reach ground level. Outside, to Emma’s surprise, are people running in every direction but downtown, mothers calming crying children, dogs barking disgruntled barks. It takes Emma a moment to realize one of the barks is coming from the black northern terrier. It’s followed them.

 

“What—What’s going on?” Emma asks distractedly.

 

Dr. Lee does not answer her. He merely pulls out his cell, dials a number, and puts the phone to his ear. “Dee, what the fuck is going on?” he shouts into the speaker.

 

There is a muffled woman’s voice on the other end, but amongst the chaos and the traffic horns blowing every other second, it’s impossible to make out what she’s saying. Her voice comes in quick bursts before Dr. Lee replies.

 

“What?!” he cries. “That’s impossible.” More incomprehensible mumbling, then Dr. Lee sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose as if in agony or frustration. “Alright, alright. Evacuate civilians in the area. Get them as far away from it as possible, and don’t call the police,” he orders. “I’m on my way.”

 

He hangs up and turns to Emma, who’s watching him almost expectantly. “Look, Emma, I don’t have time to explain it all now,” he begins, “all I know is that what’s happening—to you, here, right now—is happening for a very particular reason.” He looks away, past her and at the towering buildings in the distance. “There’s a creature out there somewhere, and it’s terrifying civilians. Only you can bring it to justice.”

 

“Bring it to justice?” Emma repeats in astonishment. “I’m not a superhero.” She crosses her arms. “What the hell is going on?”

 

“Please, Emma,” he persists, gesturing to all the frantic people around them and, in particular, a father who has just picked up his little daughter in his arms. A feeling like sympathy wraps around Emma’s heart. “Now is not the time for questions, don’t you think? We need to find this creature before it’s too late.”

 

For a moment, Emma says nothing, though she’d like to ask him whether it’s really his creature. How else would he know about it? And why else would he be treating it like some sort of monstrosity if he didn’t know what it was or has never seen it before?

 

He must’ve created it in his lab! Emma thinks. She’s sure of it. Could it be that it’s what he and her father were working on all that time ago? She hopes not. She likes to believe that her father was doing good work, not creating some monster that would invoke fear into people on the street—or fear into her. But still her father’s voice echoes in her head:

 

“…we’re changing the world!” he would always say. He was so excited about it too. “I don’t want to ruin our odds, but it may be time to consider that the impossible isn’t so far from reality like we thought.”

 

She shakes the thought of her father away, however, and nods to Dr. Lee, who’s watching her just as intensely as she was watching him a moment ago, and with that, they hurry towards the middle of Skyrim City.

 

The sounds of chaos—screams of women, cries of children, ferocious roars, and constant trembling—grow louder the closer they get. People run past them in raw panic, fear and desperation in their eyes. Emma has never seen anything like it. That alone is enough to frighten her too, perhaps more so than the prospect of what they might find.

 

After running through overcrowded sidewalks, down city block after city block, they eventually stop at an intersection sectioned off by police. Almost everybody is looking up as dirt and dust fall into their eyes. Emma holds her arm up atop of her head to shield herself and see clearly, and she’s stunned to discover a massive creature with fur a desolate grey, a lengthy tail to match, climbing Skyrim City’s Legality building.

 

Jonathon Lee grabs Emma’s wrist just as an officer begins signalling at them to run. He pulls her forward, towards the Legality entrance and mutters, “We need to get you up there.”

 

Emma pulls herself free, making Dr. Lee spin suddenly. “What?!” she exclaims. “Are you insane?! I’m not going up there with that thing at the top!”

 

“I know it’s crazy,” Dr. Lee quickly amends. “It also might not seem real. But it’s the only way. If you don’t try, Skyrim City will fall.” They both glance up at the beast climbing higher and higher in the city’s skyline. Neither of them needs to clarify that the idea is likely literal—the building could very much fall and end, what? Hundreds, if not thousands, of lives? “I’ll be there to help you,” Dr. Lee continues. “Consider it a personal favour for what happened to your father. I won’t let any harm come to you.” With a moment longer for Emma to consider it, he adds, “Emma, don’t you trust me?”

 

Emma thinks about it, but ultimately, she doesn’t need to think for long. Dr. Lee makes a valid point. Whatever is happening to her, it could not have happened at a better time, and it may be the only way to stop that thing from destroying Skyrim City.

 

Finally, she nods and says, “Let’s go.”

 

The two make their way to the entrance of the building. There are two police officers standing in the doorway, ensuring no one enters and everyone exits. One officer with a plump figure and obvious red hair turns to help an elderly woman out of building. He directs her to the park across the street, where residents of Skyrim City are already gathering around, watching the abomination tear into Legality’s side. “Go as far as you can, ma’am,” he says.

 

“Where the hell do you two think you’re going?” demands the other officer, stopping Jonathon Lee and Emma in their path. “Nobody’s allowed inside.”

 

Dr. Lee flashes an ID card. “Doctor Jonathon Lee,” he starts, “head scientist at District Six, but now isn’t the time for introductions. Right now, as far as you’re concerned, we’re the best chance Skyrim has at stopping this monstrosity from destroying the city further. If you don’t let us up to it, that thing will destroy everything.”

 

The officer, who Emma notes is named Officer Thompson, looks back at his deputy then at the chaos outside. “And what makes you think either of you can stop any of this? You have no credentials.” He gestures to Emma then. “And she’s just a kid.”

 

“Yes, but let’s just say she can do more than what you think she can.”

 

“And I’m supposed to believe that?”

 

“Yes.” Jonathon Lee is unwavering, eyeing the man with such intensity that Emma wonders if he’ll forcefully push the officer aside anyway should he still refuse to let them through.

 

Then, at last, the man sighs. “Fine. On one condition: I’m coming with you. If I’ve learned anything from my time as an officer, it’s that you’re walking headlong into death, and I’m not going to let either of you go up there unsupervised.”

 

“Fine by me,” is all Dr. Lee says, and the three of them rush to the Legality’s stairs.

 

They rush up the first ten floors without a problem, adrenaline and cortisol coursing through their veins. Only on the eleventh does Emma begin to slow down, her breathing laboured and heaving, throat dry. The higher they climb, the louder the beast’s roars, and the dustier the air. Emma coughs to keep the smell of distant fire and smoke out of her system.

 

On the fifty-sixth floor, they are unable to climb any higher, the stairs and the wall having been torn clean through, as if the beast stuck a huge, grubby claw through it to reach inside for a nice, juicy steak. What if we’re the steak? Emma thinks, or steaks—plural.

​

Suddenly, a mix of nausea, anxiety, and fear sinks into her stomach. She swallows and strains to listen for any caustic noise outside the building. It’s impossible to hear the chaos down below—the cars’ horns blaring, the people shouting or crying. To the three of them, it’s just the crackle of fires, the building rumbling, smoke, and wind.

 

“Where is it?” asks Officer Thompson.

 

“Don’t know,” Dr. Lee responds. “Let’s split up. If you see it, yell.”

 

“And then what?” Emma asks. “Shouldn’t we come with a plan for how we’re going to stop it?”

 

“Never mind a plan,” Dr. Lee states, dismissing the idea with a wave of his hand. “As soon as you get a visual, aim for its eyes. Emma, throw anything you can at it—the heavier the better. Keep it distracted so Thompson can line up a shot.”

 

“Its eyes?” questions Officer Thompson. “How can you be sure that will kill it?”

 

“I’m not,” Dr. Lee admits. “But anything that can’t see is no longer a threat. Once we get its eyes, it’ll be easier to do the rest, as long as we remain quiet.”

 

Emma nods, understanding. Thompson does the same. They spread out. Debris piles in areas around the ruined floor. In the hallway, lights flash in warning at each end and the elevator blares a constant sound that screams error. Dr. Lee heads in one direction, back out into the hall; Officer Thompson into another, around a ruin of collapsed cubicles while Emma wanders to a break room of unoccupied tables, couches, and a fallen water cooler. Most of its water is all over the floor and there’s a half-eaten tuna sandwich on the table.

 

Then, from outside the window, a thick tail swings in and out of view. Suddenly, the smell of foul breathing becomes all too apparent, and Emma scrunches her nose in disgust. And then it fully appears. It stares at Emma with faded yellow eyes. Emma swears she sees them flash red in rage, but this is nothing but an illusion.

 

“Uh, guys?” she utters, her heart beating far faster than it was when she climbed the stairs. No one hears her. “Guys?” she shouts louder.

 

Still nothing.

 

The beast brings its short arm back, and with a fallowed swoop, it tears through the wall. Its extended claws come within mere inches of grazing Emma’s cheek. She hurries away, crying out as she slips on the wet murky floor.

 

The beast roars at her, throwing slick saliva at her face and displaying teeth far too sharp to eat with. That’s when Emma realizes: Those teeth aren’t for eating; they’re for killing, for tearing the creature’s prey apart. It’s all a game to it, and she’s caught in the middle of it. She’s caught in a game that will get her killed. The reality hits her like a speeding train:

 

I’m going to die, she thinks. I’m going to die today.

​

Then a shot is fired, and her hands fly up to her ears. She spins to find Officer Thompson in the break room doorway, holding a pistol at the beast with both hands. The beast yells, but otherwise, it doesn’t seem affected. Emma sees no blood in its fur.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Dr. Lee shouts, coming in from behind them. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I said distract it!”

​

The gravity and volume of his voice jars Emma back to her senses, and without thinking, she reaches an arm out for anything to throw and throws the entire water cooler with unmanned control. She’s stunned to see it hit the beast under the snout. What’s left of the 18 Gallons of water soaks the beast's chest, and Emma quickly gets up to her feet. It takes her a second to realize that Dr. Lee is holding a jar of peanuts. She decides not to ask.

 

Dr. Lee throws open the jar and begins flinging peanuts by the handful at the dead grey monstrosity. It hardly does anything until Emma joins in, hurling every object she can at it with her newfound power. Bottles of water and juice, unfinished bags of chips and pretzels, to items as big as the coffee machine overflowing with coffee, the microwave, to the table and chairs. The bigger the item, Emma quickly finds, the harder it is to lift with her mind. But she strains against the weight and hurls it at the beast regardless.

 

The beast roars and roars, but it’s grip in the building remains firm. Emma shoots the couch at it, and finally, its claws come undone. She thinks it might fall off the building, away from them, and just as relief washes into her chest, fear does as well. Fear of the beast crushing everybody down below. If it doesn’t die from that fall, then those people would die for nothing, she thinks to herself. “Don’t let it fall off the building!” she decides quickly.

 

“What are you waiting for, Thompson?” shouts Dr. Lee. “Take the fucking shot!”

 

“I am!” With a muffled growl, he swivels the weapon up at the beast’s eye, zeroes in behind the barrel, and squeezes the trigger.

 

The beast howls in pain, its eyes widening in terror and surprise. Emma watches as Officer Thompson squeezes off another shot. His aim is impeccable and the bullets lodge right into its eye sockets.

 

With the second bullet in its eye, the beast swings its tail almost instinctually. “Watch out!” Dr. Lee yells, whirling Emma out of the way.

 

Emma lands on her back. Dr. Lee stands ahead of her, gripping what Emma can only guess is a small remote sticking out of his fist. He and the beast are staring each other down, brown eyes peering into gold. Emma, with one look to the left to find Officer Thompson slouched against the fridge, thrusts the table she hurled at it earlier. It’s broken now, but it does the trick, tearing the monster’s focus away long enough for Officer Thompson to squeeze the rest of his round into the creature’s body until the firearm clicks empty.

 

“Nice work, kid,” Dr. Lee comments, offering a hand to help her up. Emma takes it.

 

“Thanks,” she says. “But let’s not celebrate until this is over.”

 

The beast, with each bullet, staggers back until eventually its lower legs slip and its front claws retract from the building. It falls with the loudest shriek yet; Emma has to cover her ears. “No!” she screams. “It’ll kill hundreds of people down there!”

 

But Dr. Lee and Officer Thompson barely hear her.

 

Dr. Lee is the first to rush to the edge of the building to see it hit the ground. Emma doesn’t move until she hears Officer Thompson cough. He turns over, attempts to sit up, but only grunts in pain. Emma, surprised, rushes to him. “Are—Are you okay?” she asks.

 

He doesn’t answer, only gives Emma a half-hearted reassuring smile that isn’t at all reassuring as a bubble of blood slowly drips through his mouth. In his stomach, covered by a length of his arm, is one of the beast’s sharp claws, lodged into his skin.

 

Emma gasps. “Oh god,” she says, choking back a sob. “No. You—You have to stay strong. We’ll get you to a hospital. It’ll be okay, just hang in there.”

 

But Officer Thompson shakes his head, as if he knows none of what she’s promising will be possible. He forces himself to take Emma’s hands away from his abdomen, but even as he does so, she can see the light in his dark eyes rapidly fading. “I’ve never seen anyone with strength like yours,” he says before a fit of coughing overwhelms him. Emma winces at the sight and sound of it. She wants to tell him not to speak, to just take it easy, and wait for help to come, but the words fail her. All that comes to mind is the way her father looked that day in the trucking accident and she can’t help the tears that well into her eyes.

 

“Use it,” Officer Thompson mutters, pulling her just a little bit closer by the wrist so she can hear the severity in his voice. “Use it for good, not for what other people expect.”

 

She nods but still cannot find the words to reply. It isn’t fair. Having lost her father at the age of 13, and her mother when she was a baby, then having to live all on her own. Having to find her way, all by herself. And now having to face it all all over again. What did she ever do to deserve losing everything? Why couldn’t she have developed a power that heals people, or better yet, one that brings people back from the dead?

 

At some point, she feels a hand on her shoulder, and she turns to find Dr. Lee looking down on her. Only then does she realize that Officer Thompson is gone, his eyes unblinking and staring straight at her. She notices out of the corner of her eye that Dr. Lee is saying something, but she doesn’t hear what he says. All that plays in her mind’s eye is the beast’s outrageous roar and Officer Thompson’s voice—his last words. Use it. Use it for good, not for what other people expect. She doesn’t know what to make of it.

​

“Emma?” Dr. Lee says again, this time louder. “Did you hear me?” Emma shakes her head. “I said let’s get out of here. Come. I’ll buy you dinner.”

 

All Emma can muster is a measly, “thanks” at that, though she can’t help but wonder if she’ll be able to eat anything after today.

 

The two of them make their way back down, this time at a more leisurely pace, with Dr. Lee assuring her that Officer Thompson’s body will be personally taken care of. This, Emma acknowledges with a solemn nod, nothing else.

 

When they make it back outside, Emma tries her best not to look in the direction of the beast, which proves to be difficult with all the cameramen and journalists snapping pictures of it from every angle, at least until one of them walks up to them, shoving microphones and cameras into each of their faces. They shout questions, most of them directed at Dr. Lee, but a few surprisingly directed at Emma too.

 

“Dr. Lee, do you know what the monster is?”

 

“Was today’s destruction on Skyrim City orchestrated by District Six?”

 

“How did you manage to defeat the beast all by yourselves?”

 

Emma does not know how to answer of these questions, but to her relief, she doesn’t need to. Dr. Lee answers, “No comment at this time,” pushing the people away. He leads Emma away, hails a taxi on a side street away from the crowds. “Six Mile,” he instructs the driver, one of the most popular pubs in the city. “And if you could put in some earbuds so we can talk privately, that would be much appreciated.”

 

The driver, an old man with a navy blue trucker hat, nods and reaches for a set of wired earbuds. He pairs them with his cell phone, then sets the car into drive.

 

“You did good today,” Dr. Lee tells Emma when it’s clear the driver is no longer listening.

 

“I don’t really know what I did, really,” Emma replies. “And I doubt I could do it again if I had to.” She crosses her arms, hugging her stomach and turning to look out the window.

 

The drive is silent apart from the usual noise of the road. Emma has never been to Six Mile Pub before. It is foreign territory. Although, she recalls her father meeting old-time friends and coworkers there when she was younger. She wonders vaguely if Dr. Lee was one of them.

 

“I know you have questions,” Dr. Lee continues then. “I will be happy to answer all of them in time. But for now, I can see you need time to process all that’s happened today.” Emma looks over at him but says nothing. He hands her a small business card. “When you’re ready, if you don’t want that power to eat you up inside, come find me.”