Surge

Prologue - The New Me...It's shit

The world has a way of controlling your life whether you want it to or not.

When I came into this world 23 years ago, I was adopted at birth to Charles and Adrienne Powers. A normal family with 9 to 5 jobs, a decent salary and a daughter, I Audrey Felicity Powers who at the time, was writing University applications after a few gap years. A family that no one ever looked twice at.

Then Thanos came to wipe half of everything out of existence. And he succeeded.

The blip had caused people from all over the universe to stop existing. It was bad enough that humans had to find out that there is more to the universe than just earth and its solar system like that. Everyone had been shoved into a universe wide mourning, because the blipped weren't forgotten. They just stopped. Including me.

I went from cooking tea with my family, to looking at a new family in their home in five seconds. Never mind five years.

I was told by a shocked but apologetic looking woman about my age, that the family who lived here before them had blipped, and that everything that was found in the house at the time was either binned, sold or pawned by an estate agency. Suddenly all these homes had become available and the world renowned housing problem had been solved. Out of respect for 'the blipped', the homes that had been left behind were left to settle for a year before major transformations had taken place. After the third year, most of the the worlds major food, economic, climate and housing problems had more or less been resolved. The world was a better place for those still left in it, but nobody really felt like they deserved it.

When everybody returned, after the heroic actions of Tony Stark and the Avengers, billions of people had to force their way back into a society that they no longer recognised and a whole bunch of new crises had been introduced to the planet. I left my old home without my parents that day, looking at what had changed.

I of course went looking for my family. I looked for months and I couldnt find any trace of them. They were supposed to have carried on where they left off like I did, but for some reason they didnt. I have been round the world looking for them, looking at data bases and data banks, but there is absolutely no trace of them. Like they never existed. Like the blip didnt give them back.

On my search, I was eventually led to an anti-nationalist group in Madripoor, Singapore called the Flag Smashers whos plan was to return Earth's government and society to how it was before the blipped had come back. I joinjed their cause, because I had no one left. I had been in between jobs at the time and applying to Universities, so my relationships and friendships had been kept to a minimum. Regardless of what their beliefs were, they were a family to me, helping me with my problems if I helped them with theirs. Karli had said equality had always been a problem, regardless of the situation being presented to us.

The days pretty much became a blur after I joined Karli and her Flag Smashers. We were helping as many people as we could - getting medicine and everyday supplies to them as quickly and descreetly as we could, and it was exhausting work. Sleep was barely a façade, so exhaustion crept in and my patience was wearing short with those who wouldnt listen to our cause.

Although I was a part of the campaign, I was kept secret from any media that was published from us. For good reason. I was their secret weapon.

Almost straight after I blipped into my old house that night I nearly collapsed with the weight of it all. The noise. The unbearable and deafening noise of other peoples thoughts and dispositions. I tried screaming. I tried to drown it out. I tried to make it stop. But it didnt. I have learned how to control it with the help of Karli and the others, but there's something else. Why is there always something else?

One of my most redeeming qualities has always been empathy. I have been able to understand other people emotions, or ulterior motives. I could help to ease other peoples pain just by giving them someone to talk to, and to put myself in their shoes. To make their problems seem important. I just never had that for myself. Nobody except my parents were there for me, and even then they didnt really understand me. My emotional and physical problems were entirely alien to everyone around me, like they didn't care. So I guess the world gave me something back. The blip listened.

My tangible touch can temporarily transfer my physical and emotional feelings into another person. Not only can I see what they are going through, I can hear it too and I love it. The feeling when somebody listens to you, really understands you. It's like nothing else. It's also terrifying, so I always keep my skin covered now and only use the power if I really feel I need to. Nobody knows about this power yet, just me. And I planned on keeping it that way. So when Karli and the campaign died, I didnt know what to do.

The night she died I followed her to the GRC meeting hall ignoring orders, and thats when everything went wrong. John Walker had somehow gotten intel of my whereabouts and details of who I was, and offered me a chance to join a real cause with some Lady he'd been speaking to, but I refuse to be searched for and used like a rag doll. What they don't know about, will stay that way because what would happen if they found out? What would they do to me? What would they want some one like me for? Who am I to them?

I need to be on my own. Maybe this is why I'm angry all the time, maybe I just need to rest. I want to be who I am without needing to protect myself. I am unique. The blip gave me these powers for a reason, only me. I am unlike anyone else and just like before, I am on the run again. Finding my place in this messed up fucking world, that's hell bent on controlling me to use as it's puppet. A secret? Yes, my secret. A weapon? No.