Zap! 

“Aw c’mon,” Rai groaned, as a broken ammeter sailed across the room. He was beginning to wish he had spent his weekly allowance of outdoor time at the movies watching the newest Justice League instead of scouring local Walmarts for devices he could use for his tests. What’s worse, it seemed that his efforts had been worthless, since none of them could handle a high voltage. 

Correction: none of them could handle him.

“Let’s see... maybe this one?” He picked out a calculator looking device with a fat knob in the middle and two sticks. He pinched one stick with his left hand, the other with his right, took a deep breath, and surged as hard as he could. 

The voltmeter’s screen went crazy, fluctuating somewhere around 140 volts and peaking at 200.

“Holy crap, I could kill someone,” he muttered to himself. He fumbled for his pencil and scribbled his new personal record down in his journal.

Just then, the doorbell sounded throughout the house. He got up from his mini lab and opened the door.

Standing on the doorstep was a short, middle-aged man wearing thin, metal rimmed glasses and a white doctor’s coat. “Mr. Akane?” 

“That’s me.”

“It’s time for your relocation.”

“Gosh, has it really been six months already?” When the man didn’t respond, he said awkwardly, “Alright well gimme a sec, I’ll go grab my stuff.”

“You don’t have to. Your new home will have everything you need.”

“But my—”

“We need to get moving, Mr. Akane,” the agent said sternly.

Rai hesitated. “Okay then.” He stepped out the door and trudged down the snow-covered driveway toward a white box truck, holding nothing but a puffy black North Face parka. The rest of the street showed no signs of life. All his buddies had been moved to their next home, courtesy of the government-run Mutant Assimilation Program. 

Where they were headed, he had no idea. Probably some sparsely-populated mythical land like Wyoming, to avoid being noticed by the bloodthirsty anti-mutants that comprised most of the American population. It probably wouldn’t be anything special though. MAP’s funds were practically nonexistent after the government had splurged on self-driving trucks, and their tiny mobile homes often felt like prisons. In fact, he often looked forward to the half-yearly relocation just because the landscape was a lot more interesting to stare at than a blank white wall. 

The agent opened up the back door of the box, revealing a hospital bed and several racks filled with medical supplies.

Rai stared at everything for a moment before turning to the agent. “Wait, you want me to get in here?”

“Yes.” He added, “It’s for your periodic doctor’s checkup.”

“Um, the  program’s never given me a doctor’s checkup before.”

“That’s why it’s called periodic, kid. Now get in.”

He reluctantly climbed into the box, mourning the loss of his precious nature-gazing time. The man followed him in, shutting the door behind him. A couple moments later, the engine sputtered to life, and the truck lurched forward. 

“Just lay down on this bed right here.”

Rai slowly did as he was told while the agent pulled out a manila folder. Something felt slightly off about the guy, but he couldn’t figure out why... 

“Rai Akane,” the agent said, interrupting his thoughts. “Born March 9th, 2031. Male, six feet tall, 125 pounds. Powers: electricity.” He looked up from his papers. “Does everything here sound about right?”

Rai nodded. 

“Good. I’ll just be doing some routine evaluations, so no need to worry.” 

Alarm bells immediately went off in his head. In movies, anyone who says “no need to worry” is lying. No exceptions. Rai’s mind started racing as the agent picked a small vial off the rack behind him and filled a metal syringe with its clear liquid. He strained his eyes to read the label. Chlorine? Cyborg? No. Cyan....

Cyanide. 

Everything started to piece together. No luggage needed. A sudden “doctor’s checkup.” 

Rai wasn’t being relocated.

He was being offed. 

Not if I can help it, he thought, rage coursing through his veins. 

“Stay still,” the agent said as the syringe closed in. “This will only take a moment—”

The second the needle touched his skin, Rai surged with electricity, shocking the agent with the full force of 200 volts. The agent yelped in pain and jumped back, colliding with the metal racks and sending glass bottles crashing down. The truck swerved right, throwing them against the side of the box. 

The agent let out a cry and jabbed at him with the syringe, but Rai caught his wrist and surged again. The man convulsed violently for a couple seconds before falling to the floor, unconscious. Or dead. At this point, Rai could care less. All he needed was a way out. 

The truck swung to the side, once again threatening to flip over. Rai pushed himself against the opposite wall and tried his best to stabilize the vehicle. 

Am I going crazy or is that smoke? He stepped away from the wall to find that his hand had made an imprint in the side of the box. The leftover heat from the surge... 

Lightbulb. 

He pressed his middle and index fingers against the wall and focused all his energy into his palm. C’mon c’mon c’mon.

His hand glowed bright orange, and the metal around it started to smolder. He cut a lopsided circle in the wall, and with one good push, sent it flying outward. Rai went with it, violently tumbling across the asphalt before coming to a stop at the side of the road. 

He lifted his head weakly, watching the red headlights disappear into the distance, and for the first time since he had stepped outside that morning, reality began to set in. Daniel, Claren, Francis, Vivian... all gone. The only people he could trust, the only people who understood him, killed by the very program that had been built to protect them. And soon, he’d be joining them.

No, he thought. I won’t let them die for nothing. And with a sense of grim determination, Rai pushed himself to his feet, brushed off his pants, and began the long trek into the wilderness.