Sunday part 2

A young child sped down the empty street before the Fox estate, another slowly approached the street with a look of curiosity, silently watching her cousin work those little legs. She's moving unexpectedly fast, making a good distance in under a minute. Further and further away she went, the song in her head echoing in Zena's own. The melody of some childish and most likely made up song had her absently humming along as she focused on her cousin. She was slowly becoming a dot in her vision but the song remained prominent in her mind. Soon Alissa was a good one hundred yards away, her song and excitement still apparent to Zena, who had not moved a single inch from her spot before the house. She clutched the walkie talkie in her hand as she brought it to her mouth, silently awaiting the moment her cousin's thoughts are no longer in her head. She waited, a minute, another, she was no longer in sight. Zena wore a look of disbelief on her face as she lost all sight of her cousin and wondered exactly how far she had gone and if she'll still hear her when she reached their limited range. They are only allowed to go so far, after all, they are without adult supervision at the moment.

"Alissa where are you?" There was static from the device that was meant to be a fun way of communication between Zena and her father, a device she thought little of until now.

"Um, at that big store that sells all those toys, they have a lot of fun stuff here" her voice was a bit distorted but clear enough to understand. Alissa was expertly handling the bike with both hands fiddling with the device instead of holding the steer. Still, she rode down the road in a clear and steady line, using her body to steer the bike instead.

"That store is over a hundred yards away" Zena mumbled to herself in astonishment. She didn't think her mental invasion reached that far, but clearly, it did. Exactly how far did her mind wander on the daily? How many people has she been listening in on? "You've got another fifty or so yards to go before you meet that little burger place, that's as far as we're allowed"

"So, you can still hear me?" Alissa sounded more impressed than excited.

"Yea, I can, very clearly too" only because she was locked on her mind alone. Had she let her mind roam free, Alissa would've been a near whisper in the back of her head.

Soon Alissa had turned a corner to find the mentioned store in her sights. She was mildly disappointed because Zena could still hear her which meant they had not found her limit yet. On the other hands, it's really impressive how she could reach so far. If Alissa was right her range was about two hundred yards. Her range was the size of two football fields, probably longer. She'd have to ask Vincent and Rose to accompany them next time so they could go further.

~~~~~~

Two hundred yards, at least I think it's two hundred yards, if not it's still as impressive. Alissa's speeding down the road within a few minutes, as fast as she was retreating. She's going so fast I worry she'll crash right into me and that is a concern that gets worse the closer she gets. She's grinning like a mad man as if she knows exactly what's on my mind and is playing to those worried thoughts. She's a weird kid, always excited about being near me, thoughts that are jumbled and shifting from topic to topic. It makes invading her mind a disorienting yet curious endeavour.

The screech of tires on asphalt pierces my hearing as she comes to a dangerous halt just inches before me. I was very much aware of her skill on a bike and did not need her showing off. I saw her pull those stunts on her way down the streets, the no hands on the steer and the little whip she managed to pull off for twenty seconds.

"You just had to, didn't you?"

She hops off my bike, laughing as she shuffled in some awkward yet admittingly adorable dance before me.

She's following me back into the house with no other words spoken, but the words in her mind are clearly directed at me. She's not making fun of me, just teasing in some hilariously stupid ways that have me suppressing a smile. This kid has jokes.

When we get into the house we catch my father slugging around a thirty-two-inch flat screen with obvious ease. He had it held under his arm while the other is occupied with a homemade burger that has me suspicious. He better not have stolen my food or I'm telling mom. He knows better than to take my food, food my mother has carefully and specifically made for me. This woman makes sure all my needs are met so my health stays as perfect as it currently is. She makes sure I eat a healthy balance between veggies, fruits and protein, so this man can not steal my food.

"I did not steal your food, not this time" his mouth is full of food, but I understand him clearly. I'll take his word for it. Now the only question on my mind has to do with that tv he's carrying around. It seems brand new, making me wonder when he got that.

"What's with the TV?" Alissa asks the question for me as she starts to follow dad up the stairs. I go after them both, curious to see what this man plans on doing with the TV.

"I got it for Zen" he's grinning at me and I only stare at him blankly. Why is he getting me a TV?

"Why?"

"Because your mom says you're an amazing student, your instructor is proud of your progress and I am proud of the mastery of your quirk, or at least the little control you've learned" he seems very proud of me and I allow myself to fill with pride as well. Aren't I just the best daughter? " So I'm rewarding you. Now you can watch the news and all your anime in your room. I also got you the latest game system"

I don't even play video games.

"Video games improve hand-eye coordination and it'll be a way for you to become a bit more social"

Was this man saying that I lack social skills? I want to argue but I see his point. I have no friends because I hardly leave the house and I'm homeschooled, on top of the fact that I need to have some form of a bodyguard when I'm on my own. The only one that can be considered my friend is my cousin, which is a bit sad. But still, a TV and game system. This man must truly believe this won't distract me from my studies, such confidence in my abilities is actually a nice show of trust.

Alissa looks more excited about this than I do, the reason being the fact that she has a game system as well and sees this as the chance for us to play together. Apparently, she plays with Israel a lot and the boy has taken her under his wing. I like the fact that my family's so close unlike most in this world.

I enter my room to find a TV table stand already situated in my room. It was coloured a light blue to fit the scheme of my room and fit nicely against the wall at the end of my bed. Dad carefully places the TV on the stand, sits down on the floor and gets to work placing the cables where they need to be.

Watching him work makes me realize that this Sunday would not have gone according to plan even without Alissa's appearance. Dad would be in my room setting up my new system, perfectly happy with rewarding his daughter and not caring about her plan for sleep for the day.

While he's working on all of that Alissa's on my bed with the toys my parents had recently purchased. My old chest of toys had been donated to children who would appreciate them more than me while I got toys I would rather play with. I'm supposed to be a child so I might as well. My parents were starting to worry about me so I decided to calm them by asking for certain toys. My new chest is filled with building blocks similar to legos, something very much like Perplexus epic, a karaoke machine, an RC quadcopter, a rubik's cube and a 3d pen. They're toys I can actually play with as I build random things when I have nothing to do or decide to spy on the neighbours with the quadcopter.

A build a lot but never on my bed, lest I hurt myself by forgetting a single piece on the bed. Those things hurt terribly.

"On the floor, Alissa" I have to point to the carpet to get my message across. I'm not risking a single building block under my sheets.

There's a sudden loud shout coming from the TV as it abruptly starts to display a movie on the screen. Quickly my dad finds the remote and lowers the volume to something acceptable. He spends a few more moments adjusting the system before the screen flickers to display the company logo and the system boots up. Makes me think of the PlayStation. At some point in my life, I had wanted one simply because everyone else had one, now I'm not that needy. I don't need it, but I'm not going to turn it down when given. I had always wanted a game system and I guess I finally get to enjoy one.

There are four games already on the thing and a box of bought games next to the TV stand. Dad really went all out with this, didn't he?

~~~~~~~

My dad's shouting something I can barely understand as I try my hardest not to get shot in this team vs team deathmatch taking place on my screen. Alissa and I were the last two standing of our team by some unknown miracle. I am terrible at this game so I'm sure I'll be shot right in the head any minute now. My father has been cheering us on since I managed to kill someone from an impressive distance, a kill that was pure luck as I was very close to dying myself. Next to me, Alissa can barely stay still, a mess of words being projected into my head that has me almost mimicking her restlessness. I truly believe we are about to lose this match while my father and cousin still cling to some form of hope.

My one relief is that the controller is very similar to that of the dual shock four. The familiarity makes it easier for me to adapt to the controls hence my somewhat respectable ability to play the game. But that's as far as my luck goes because I've hardly played video games in my life.

Alissa's shot right in front of me causing her to shout out in shock and despair while I find someplace to hide. Bullets come flying my way and I duck in actuality, something that makes me pause for a moment to comprehend my stupidity. Did I just duck to avoid bullets in the game? Bullets that would never actually hit me. Wow, just wow. I really did that.

"You can do it Zen!" Dad's encouraging me, completely invested in the virtual war unfolding before his very eyes.

"He's coming up behind you!" Alissa's clinging to my arm, making it very hard to focus on the task at hand.

I heed her warning and swivel around to find my aggressor just in time to fire my entire mag into his body. Blood flies in a gory shower, drenching my character in the human fluids and even going so far as to decorate the screen itself as if blood had touched a camera. The game is violent and gory and I absolutely love it.

I bask in the glory of having taken the life of this man, overly happy at my achievement. In my celebration and the cheers of my father and cousin, I fail to notice the single player perched on a high building, his weapon gleaming in the artificial light. My ignorance is my downfall as a bullet pierces my head in the blink of an eye. There's an immediate silence in my room as we all stare in complete shock at the big fat "defeat" written on the screen and the playback of my assassination.

"Ooh" Alissa winced as if she had felt that shot in her very soul, something I echo on my own face. That was ruthless.

"Well.." Dad is at a loss for words as the game brings me back to my lobby where I can choose to go back to war or idle around. "That was fun"

I suppose it was. I did make it further than I expected and it was very much exciting.

I should try again, maybe I'll win this time.

Alissa is more than happy with the idea as she eagerly reclaims her controller to start a game with me. Dad leaves after saying something about snacks. I think it's safe to assume he'll be spending a while in my room only to watch us play the game. My father had opted to go first when the system was booted, as some demonstration. I was sceptical at first but then this man was on the battlefield and sniping people left and right. This guy was an obvious pro at gaming, apparently, a secret he kept from me. He knows exactly how to use the weapons, what buttons to press and how to skillfully send a man to god. It was surprising and impressive.

"We should invite Israel" maybe we should. I only shrug at the suggestion as I'm not really sure. "If we do we'll win for sure"

Yes, but perhaps we can try to reach victory on our own.

My Sunday may not have been spent according to plan, but it was no less enjoyable. Later that day when Alissa is leaving with her parents I don't object the idea of her returning the next Sunday and as the day went on I spend a good couple of hours playing video games with my parents. My father is amazing at every game while mom and I struggle to even come close to his level and skill.

Sundays truly are amazing days